Beyond The Labyrinth
by Cordite Quill
Summary: When Jareth is missing and the Labyrinth is dying, Hoggle comes to Sarah begging for help. Sarah will have to travel across the Underground looking for the Goblin King. But finding him is the easy part. Staying alive, working together, and defeating the powerful evil that is destroying the Underground while Jareth's magic fades? That will be a challenge worthy of a Champion.
1. Not a Dream

**IMPORTANT NOTE, PLEASE READ! **This story is actually a continuation of a one-shot I wrote called, "Welcome to the Funhouse." (I guess that one-shot has become a prologue, huh?) While it isn't _necessary_ to read "Welcome to the Funhouse," it will explain a few things now, and later on in the story.

"_The past is never dead. It's not even past." – William Faulkner_

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**Not a Dream**

Sarah had graduated college with degrees in English, Theater Arts, and a minor in Theater Management. All of this made her woefully inadequate to analyze the strange dream she'd had the night before. Or so she thought.

The fact she'd found a white owl feather upon waking made it even more difficult.

And yet, by lunchtime, she'd managed to explain away _most _of the oddness of her dream. Most of that dream referenced a _previous _one, after all. The Labyrinth, Jareth – all that stuff she'd dreamed about when she'd been a teenager. Dreams could recur, right? And she'd been interested in Tarot cards for a little while in high school. That's probably where the fortune reader came from. The rest could be written off to "weird dream stuff that never makes any sense"...

Except for the feather. The feather was a puzzle.

It was soft, white, unbroken, and she'd only noticed it after waking up. She'd been lying on top of it, in fact. Could it have stuck to her night-clothes? Could she have had it with her all along and didn't realize it? But, still, the question would have been where did it come from?

She refused to think there was some significance in the feather. The fact it was white was purely coincidental; the fact that her mind automatically went to barn owls simply because she'd been dreaming about one. She didn't know for sure it was a barn owl's feather.

Right now, she was mindlessly entering data into the spreadsheet in front of her, thinking about the dream, and wondering for the millionth time what it could mean.

This job was part-time, the other one she had was her true love – helping to manage a theater downtown. The income from both allowed her to live independently in a small apartment. Someday, she dreamed of the theater taking off and becoming her full-time job, but if she was honest with herself, that was likely a pipe dream.

At five o'clock, she clocked out and headed just outside the city, to the closest suburb where her family lived in the same house she had grown up in. She drove past the park, feeling the same jolt she always did; that tenderness of childhood memory. She could still picture herself on a bench reading fantasy novels, or with a billowy peasant blouse spouting lines from famous plays. Sometimes, the pull of memories was too strong and if the ice cream truck was parked at the curb, she would stop and buy a cone, sit on a bench, and people watch. Today, she kept driving.

Every Wednesday night, she had dinner with her family. Every Sunday night, if her mother was free, she'd place a long distance call to California and chat for an hour or so. Lately, these little rituals had been broken; Sarah's mother had been vaguely busy, unable to call, while her family had been vacationing in Florida. Sarah, unable to take off the time from the theater, had been a little jealous. They'd just returned this week, this would be the first dinner together in two weeks.

Maybe the dream came from the upset to her daily routines? Or maybe it was the opposite? Because, if Sarah was honest with herself, routine wasn't really her thing. Her life spread out before her in weeks and months compromised of boringly similar days. The theater offered some variety, but only some. Maybe she was dreaming about the Labyrinth inhabitants again because she missed adventure?

_That must be it, _she decided, just as she slid into the driveway.

Except for the feather. The feather was still a puzzle.

Annoyed, Sarah frowned at the steering wheel. She didn't want to dwell on the feather anymore, so she thought, _And the feather is just some weird coincidence. _And she told herself, willing herself to believe it.

She turned off her engine just as Toby came racing up the driveway behind her, Karen and the new dog, Buxley, in tow.

# # # #

Hoggle heard Ambrosius's panting before he even turned. The interruption was annoying; these dark fairies wouldn't spray themselves. And they'd gotten worse. Now, most of them sported bright pink lipstick, dark clothes, wild hair, and rows upon rows of shark teeth. Prime for the bitin', and a tendency to grin at you afterwards. But that wasn't even the bad part. The bad part was the fever and delirium that set in from their poison. That was a new feature.

He sprayed the last dregs of the can, shook it to make sure it was empty, then threw it at the last fairy. She only laughed, showing off those teeth, then stuck out her startlingly pink tongue and flew away.

_Nasty suckers. Gonna have to increase the stuff's strength, _he thought as he turned.

Sir Didymus was petting Ambrosius's white fur, his old man's eyebrows tucked down thoughtfully, his eyes unhappy. Great, more bad news. Like Hoggle needed that.

"The Worm is dead."

Hoggle blinked, mentally chewing this news for a minute. So it was going to be one of _those _visits. Hoggle should have guessed. And then it hit him. _Dead?_

"What happened?"

Sir Didymus was silent a moment, then answered, "Taken by a bird. Or so the Missus says."

Hoggle's mouth opened a little in disbelief, then he shook himself. "A Blighted bird?"

"I do believe so."

"We're in deep trouble, aren' we?" Hoggle said.

Sir Didymus calmly looked at the dwarf, nodded, and said, "The Worm was our last defense for the Labyrinth. If something comes…"

"But the Missus!" Hoggle argued. "And all those mites of his. Didn' he 'ave a million children?"

"Five thousand, three hundred, and twenty-seven, to be exact."

"Trust ya to 'member a number like that."

"Only four hundred and fifteen remain at home. And none of them are trained like he was."

Hoggle sighed. "And Jareth?"

"Still gone. We can officially say he is missing now."

"What we gonna do?"

Sir Didymus waved toward the direction the fairy had flown. "The fairies are just the start. Things are _changing – _here and the rest of the Underground – and the inhabitants are noticing. I don't know about thee, my fine fellow, but I don't think I can keep this ruse going."

"But what we gonna _do?_"

Sir Didymus hesitated. His snout quivered, the whiskers trembling slightly, as he thought of what he'd say next. When he finally did speak, it was a quiet murmur, as if he was talking to himself. Hoggle leaned forward and heard: "The kingdom needs a Champion."

"The kingdom needs Jareth!" Hoggle bit back.

"And where do thee suggest we find him?" Sir Didymus said, the closest to snapping he'd come. "And who will watch the realm while looking for him?"

Hoggle was quiet. Volunteer to hunt for Jareth or watch over the realm? He had no intention of doing either. Both were nasty thoughts. He was just a dwarf, a jack of all trades. He sprayed fairies, pruned bushes, collected junk. He was no Adventurer and he _hated _quests, journeys, or epic anythings.

"So who's gonna be this Champion, then?" he asked.

Sir Didymus gave him a pointed look, tilting his snout down so their eyes met.

"Oh no!" Hoggle backed up a step. "No way's you gonna bring _her _into this mess."

"She is our Champion."

"She doesn' believe in us no more! She thinks we're all's just a dream!" Hoggle felt a familiar stab of pain at the words, but reminded himself at this point that was safer for her. A dream was _safer_. On his belt, his junk collection tinkled and he knew amongst it, almost hidden, was a plastic bracelet he'd never been able to toss.

"Then we need to wake her up," Sir Didymus said firmly. Ambrosius's tongue, which had been flopping out of his mouth as he panted merrily, oblivious to the conversation, retracted and he sniffed the ground at Sir Didymus's booted feet. "Thou needs to retrieve her."

"'Ey! Wait just one boggin' minute! Why me?"

"Does thee suggest I do it and _thee_ watch the kingdom? I will, if that's what thou wants."

"What about that damn rock singer?"

Sir Didymus sighed. "I can't find him. He may have returned to the mountains...or..."

Hoggle was surprised by the spike of anxiety at the thought after that "or." The monster had been a companion during that time long ago, but Hoggle had barely spoken to him afterwards. He'd seen the beast around, traversing the Labyrinth. Ludo had been one of the few rock singers that seemed to prefer the shaped stone of the Labyrinth rather than the wild mountains. He couldn't imagine Ludo would return there.

"Ya didn' tell me this," Hoggle said, softly. "You never mentioned the rock singer was missing."

"I did not want to cause thee undue unhappiness, my friend," Sir Didymus said.

"I thoughts you'd tell me everything," Hoggle continued. "What else ya hidin'?"

Sir Didymus hesitated again. Next to him, Ambrosius looked up from his sniffing and cocked an ear at his master. Putting a hand on the dog's fur, Sir Didymus said, "The goblins' magic is waning."

"_What?_" Hoggle reared back, the implications incomprehensible. "But that means –"

"_No, _we don't know for sure," Sir Didymus said. "Jareth may just be deeply enchanted, or weak, or...no, really, there are _many _reasons for this..."

"It's the Blight! It's done somethin' to 'im!"

"Possible." Sir Didymus sighed.

Hoggle was silent a few moments, thinking. He watched as the dog went back to sniffing the ground, wondering off some distance as he followed a scent. Sir Didymus let his steed wander, knowing his loyalty would bring him back. Instead, he just kept looking at Hoggle with those sad, brown eyes lined by wispy fur.

"If'n he's...lost," Hoggle said, slowly, "and the goblins' magic be wanin', how am I – _if'n _I agree to this plot o'yours – even gonna get to the Above? I ain't magical."

"We must hope the necklace has some magic left."

"That's one big _hope_," Hoggle said the word like it tasted bad. His lip curled as he thought of the risks. "I ain't ready to get stuck or die for this. An' what about riskin' Sarah?"

Instead of answering, Sir Didymus simply said, "Does thou want me to go, then?"

"No! I wants more choices!"

"We're out of choices. We _need _a Champion."

"I needs a drink!" Hoggle pressed his hand to his forehead.

"Get one," Sir Didymus said, "and then go. Hoggle, thou really is the only one that can do this."

"_You're _the knight."

"Yes," Sir Didymus said, "and the King is missing, which means the knight should stay here. Thou knows I'm right. We need Sarah, we need thee to get her, and we need me to try and keep this realm together for just a little longer."

"If the magic is waning..."

"It isn't gone yet, there's still hope."

"And I gots to bring that hope back?" Hoggle looked up at the sky, shaking his head. "We're all doomed!"

# # # #

"_You only see what your eyes want to see._

_How can life be what you want it to be?_

_You're frozen_

_When your heart's not open."_

Sarah could feel the tickle of sweat sliding down her back. Her heart hammered against her rib cage as she pumped her legs, her mind telling her body to_ push it, run just a little further_. Just to the tree! The music blared in her ears, the rhythm pushing her body forward. Her harsh breathing echoed beneath the song. The CD player was a familiar weight in the fanny pack on the small of her back.

She tried to run at least four times a week – six if she was being good. The exercise helped with stress, boredom, frustration; things she didn't like admitting were present in her life.

The wind picked up, sending cold tendrils along the back of her neck; cooling the sweat on her skin. Despite the fact she had been hot just a moment ago, she shivered. She reached the tree, slapping the rough bark with her palm, and gasped out a breath of relief, resting her hands on her knees as sweat dripped from her hairline. Maybe she'd pushed herself too hard; she felt beyond winded and it took a few long minutes to catch her breath.

A few yards away, near the playground, was a water fountain. She slowly walked over it, noticing for the first time the sky was darkening as clouds drifted across it. She gulped down mouthfuls of water greedily. A leaf flew into her hair and she untangled it, then let it drift off into the wind. Following the track of the leaf was when she noticed the child on the bench near the playground. Alone.

_No, not a child, _Sarah realized, frowning when she noticed the stark white hair. A wrinkled, wizened face turned to her, watching her, and like plunked notes on a tight string, alarm twanged in her chest.

He pushed off the bench and ambled toward her, his gait slightly uneven. Her fingers clenched as she watched him make her way to her. Something inside her was screaming to run; she could actually feel the muscles in her legs tensing and releasing, but she stood still and just waited.

He stopped a few feet away. He was extremely short, he came to her belly button, and when he finally made his way to her, he stopped and tipped his head back. His black eyes shined with warmth and that's when she knew she'd seen him before.

"Sarah," he said, softly, as if he'd longed to see her and now stumbled upon her by accident.

The voice jolted the memory free. She blinked, disbelieving, and said, "Hoggle?"

He smiled and said, "Ya remember."

"Of course, but..." She frowned, looking down at herself in her jogging outfit. She touched the fanny pack on her back, pulled off the earphones. She shook her head, confused. "I could've sworn I wasn't dreaming right now."

_Who dreams about normal day stuff, anyway, like running in the park? _She thought, amused.

The warmth in Hoggle's eyes disappeared. Instead, he sighed and glanced away. "Ya thinks this is a dream, huh?"

"Of course," she said. She smiled. "Hoggle! How are you?"

Hoggle didn't answer for a long time. The breeze ruffled his feather fine hair.

_Feather..._

Sarah shifted, uneasily. "Hoggle?"

He shook himself, as if he had momentarily fallen asleep, or maybe he had just been thinking deeply. He sighed again, then said, "Sarah, this ain't a dream."

Her smile felt brittle on her face. She wanted to stop smiling, but she couldn't. "Excuse me?"

"This...this ain't a dream. It never was."

She laughed. "What wasn't?"

"_Everything,_" he said, impatiently. "Meetin' me, savin' yer brother. The Labyrinth. Jar–"

"Hoggle, it had to be a dream," Sarah interrupted. She spoke slowly, half because Hoggle was looking at her with such an incredulous expression, half because of the growing unease in the pit of her own stomach, as if she needed to convince herself of what she'd always known. "Goblins took my brother away. Goblins don't exist."

"They do!"

Sarah continued, ignoring him, "I ran a Labyrinth for thirteen hours. Thirteen hours don't exist. And the Labyrinth doesn't exist."

"It does!" Hoggle's expression darkened, as if she'd insulted him.

"I went into a room where the staircases were sideways and upside down. I walked the same way, too, which is impos–"

"Don't say it!" Hoggle snapped. "It ain't 'cuz it _happened_!"

Sarah opened her mouth to continue denying it, but she saw the expression on Hoggle – equal parts devastation and anger – and stopped. She licked her lips and said, "Okay, why are you here?"

"Why'd ya think?" Hoggle said, bitterly. "I needs yer help."

Were her dreams allowed to be so bitter or sarcastic? Sarah wondered. What did that say about her? She studied the dwarf in front of her. He clenched something hanging around his neck and he was glaring at the ground angrily. She had an urge to hug him. It was strange; she hadn't dreamed about Hoggle for _years, _not since the last dream, and yet she remembered the closeness she'd felt with the dwarf. He'd been a _friend, _despite his grumbling. She remembered that perfect warmth of friendship, of counting on someone to have your back. That feeling had lasted, even as the dream's particulars had faded over the years.

"What do you need?" she said.

Hoggle hesitated, then said, "It don' matter if you think it's a dream. Ya can't be a Champion if ya don't Believe!"

Sarah could hear the capital letter in "believe." It was important to the dwarf. She didn't know what to tell him; how was she going to believe something that didn't happen? She said, "I don't know what you want from me, Hoggle."

"I needs a Champion!" Hoggle said, stomping his foot.

"Well, I'm just a regular person," she pointed out. "So even if I believed you, you've come to the wrong person."

"Naw," he said, firmly. "Yer the Champion, all right, lot of fat good that's gonna do us."

Sarah stiffened. "Well, if that's how you feel, sorry I couldn't help." She whirled around, angry.

"Sarah!" Rough hands grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She turned back to Hoggle. "Would you really leave the Labyrinth in trouble?"

"Hoggle," Sarah said, gently, "I'm just finding this difficult to believe. You're saying _everything _happened for real? Everything?"

"Everythin'."

"The Labyrinth exists?"

"Yeah."

"We really won the Labyrinth in thirteen hours?"

Hoggle nodded. "Yeah."

"Ludo?"

Hoggle hesitated. "Real."

"Sir Didymus and Ambrosius?"

"Real."

Sarah said, softly, "Jareth?"

Again, Hoggle hesitated, then he answered, "The Goblin King's missin', and the Labyrinth is dyin', Sarah. That's why we need a Champion. Or all those memories? They'll really be dreams soon enough 'cuz we'll all be gone."

Sarah blinked. Hoggle had never struck her as the melodramatic type. Cynical, yes; aloof, yes; grouchy, yes. But not melodramatic. The air had gotten cold, blowing across her face with increased moisture that warned of a coming storm. Sarah wiggled her toes in her Nike jogging shoes, felt the cool sweat on her skin. She looked around at her New England surroundings. She considered the dwarf in front of her, and considered the possibility that maybe – just maybe – none of it was a dream. And if that was true, it opened so many possibilities.

Despite the bad news Hoggle had just given her, she felt the tiniest flare of excitement kindle in her chest.

"Okay," she said, slowly. "Okay, I'm going to need the whole story. Why don't we go to my apartment? It's close." She pointed back the way she came.

Hoggle hesitated. "We don' have time…"

"Hoggle, I'm not agreeing to anything until I know what I'm agreeing _to,_" Sarah said, firmly. She paused, smiling. "And I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Hoggle brightened. "Ya gots yerself a deal."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

(The song Sarah's listening to in this chapter is "Frozen" by Madonna.)

So, I'm back. This story, as my note at the beginning mentioned, actually continues the one-shot "Welcome to the Funhouse." This was not my intention when I wrote that one-shot; I fully intended to end that story with a question mark. And then I started thinking. And then an idea popped into my head. And then that idea sprouted into a full-fledged, potential story. And then I had to write it.

I am trying to create a buffer of chapters so I can post fairly regularly, and I have a few already, which is why I started posting. That and feedback and interaction with the fanfic community warms the cockles of my heart. Weekly (or bi-weekly), I will be uploading one chapter, writing one chapter, and editing one chapter (I'm considering finding a beta reader to make this process go quicker...?); not the same chapter. Hopefully this will keep everything going at a fairly regular speed. I really will try my best. My goal is to get back into the swing of writing regularly, so if I can make a proclamation of regular updates, I can try and do that!

Sorry this chapter is a little lacking on the action and Goblin King-ness. I warn you now, I wanted to write an adventure story that felt a little _epic_, so this may be quite a few chapters. I'll throw in suspense, action, and humor - along with some romance, of course. But, it's going to be a few chapters before our favorite "villain" rears his glittery head. (Or should I say flashes his tight pants?) Also, this story will eventually land in the "M" rating zone, at least for some of the dark stuff Sarah's going to stumble upon. As for the romance? I'll keep you in suspense on that for now...

And as for my other stories? Sigh. I'm waiting for my Muse to twitch that way. If I get back to a regular writing schedule, I think I can get back to updating my works in progress.

**Disclaimer: **This is a fanfiction written for entertainment purposes only, not profit. My original characters are my own, and cannot be copied, but otherwise the characters belong to the original copyright holders. Please do _not _copy and/or distribute this work!


	2. Back to the Underground

"_A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." - Oscar Wild__e_

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**Back to the Underground**

When the chocolate was made and poured, steaming, into two mugs, and they had sat down on the sofa, Sarah turned to Hoggle and said, "Okay, so what's happening?"

Hoggle's feet didn't touch the ground and he kicked them back and forth, thoughtfully, as he sipped his hot chocolate. It was actually pretty adorable, wizened old man's face and everything. He smacked his lips and said, "Y'believe in the Labyrinth then?"

Sarah hesitated, then sighed. "Well, if I'm dreaming right now, this is the longest, most in-depth and realistic dream I've ever had. Well, except the one…the one you say was never a dream…But, I'm still not sure. It just seems so _fantastical_…"

"And who says that can't be true?" Hoggle said, frowning. "Just 'cuz yer world's borin' doesn't mean they _all _have ta be. You used to be a believer, Sarah." He stared away, his expression so heartbroken her own heart tugged. "You used to believe in the power o'words, the power o'yer own dreams. Yah didn't double guess and think like…like…like an _adult_."

Sarah bristled. Well, she _was _an adult. But, then, she thought back to her younger self who would sit in parks for hours with just Merlin – her one true friend even if he was a dog – for company. Despite her age at that time, she'd wear a princess dress and fake flowers in her hair, reciting Shakespeare or fairy tales. She'd long for adventure; for all her make-believe to be true. And then, when it finally happened, she discounted it as a dream.

Maybe Hoggle was right.

But if he was right…

Her hands clutched the mug tighter and she said, "But if you're right, that means I…I wished away my brother."

Hoggle nodded, matter-a-fact. "Yah did."

"Hoggle! That's a horrible thing I did! It means I'm a horrible sister!"

"Naw." Hoggle shook his head. "Y'_were _a horrible sister, maybe, but when yah needed to be better, yah came after 'im. You could've left 'im to Jareth. But yah gots him back!"

"I did…"

In her mind, she heard a young girl's voice say, boldly, _"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here, to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. For my will is as strong as yours__…__" _

_I was strong then, I believed I could do anything, _Sarah thought. What had changed? Why didn't she think that way anymore? Why was she stronger, more adaptive, in her youth than now?

"And after?" Hoggle said, prompting her back from her thoughts. "What was yah like to 'im after yah got 'im back from the Goblin King?"

"Better," Sarah said, "much better." Which was true, she really valued Toby afterward. Karen had always liked saying – when Sarah had complained about babysitting or spending time with her younger brother – that family was forever. Someday, there would only be the two of them in the world, and they would need each other. It wasn't until after the Labyrinth that Sarah realized Karen was right. It also wasn't until after the Labyrinth that Sarah realized Karen wasn't a horrible, evil stepmother. While Sarah had never felt the closeness of a daughter with a mother, she'd let go of that teenage angst against Karen and accepted her makeshift family on a level she hadn't before.

After the Labyrinth, she'd babysit Toby without complaint. And as he'd grown up, he'd been close to his sister – maybe closer than anyone else in the family. They'd laughed, played, shared secrets; even now, despite the fact Toby had just turned thirteen, they were still close. When he rebelled against Karen and his father in typical teenage fashion, he still had time to hug his big sister.

All that was thanks to the Labyrinth. So why not let it be real? Why not accept it?

Sarah slowly inhaled and exhaled, then said, "Okay…okay…it was real."

Hoggle smiled. He finished his hot chocolate and placed the cup on the table. "About time you admitted the truth!" he said. He paused, looking away. "Hurt that you didn't call on us after, yah know."

Sarah winced. "I'm sorry, Hoggle."

He fiddled with the trinkets at his belt and shrugged his shoulders. "Is the way, I guess. Jareth usually wipes runners' memories. Not that any runner before ever won, or ever tried to make friends with anybody."

That had implications Sarah wasn't sure she wanted to know about. _What were the other runners like? Why hadn't they won? Why did she retain her memories, even if she'd convinced herself it had all been a dream? _She couldn't focus on that right now, though. Sarah shook her head and finished the last of her hot chocolate, which by now had grown lukewarm. She placed the mug on the coffee table next to Hoggle's.

"Okay," she said, lightly slapping her thighs in a "let's get down to business" manner. "Tell me everything."

"Explainin' everythin's goin' to take a while," Hoggle said.

"Go quickly," Sarah said, firmly.

So, Hoggle took a deep breath and said, "Started a while ago. Don' know how long – time's different in the Underground. Started with a creepin' of the outlyin' desert lands." Hoggle paused, struggled for a moment, then said, "This is difficult ta explain ta someone not familiar wi'our geography. Basically, the Underground is really huge. The Labyrinth is Jareth's portion o'that land, and he watches o'er it. But, don't think different – the Labyrinth is large. Yah only saw a small part of it last time. The largest part o'the land is the Labyrinth itself. So large 'cuz sometimes it changes, yah know? But there's some land outside of the Labyrinth, on the edges, that is the King's, too. Ain't got no real name." Hoggle shrugged.

"So, somethin' started creepin' in and suckin' the life out of the outlyin' lands. Dryin' it up into hard, brittle ground. A desert, but different than anythin' that the Labyrinth has. Darker. _Badder. _Patches o'it would spring up overnight, no reason for it." Hoggle paused, his face drawn in concentration. "Then there were reports of creatures disappearin', those that lived at the very edge of the Labyrinth proper. Was a scary time. Jareth investigated, but I dunno what he found – he didn' tell nobody. He was worried, though. Bogged lots more, kicked more goblins, too. They loved it," Hoggle added the last hastily when he saw Sarah's frown. "Goblins're like that."

Sarah wasn't so sure, but she let it pass and just asked, "Then?"

"Well, dunno," Hoggle admitted. "I ain't on the up-an'-up. I'm just the groundskeeper, yah knows. Odd jobs. And I'm happy that way! I ain't want a promotion or responsibility!" He shook his head. "All's I know is that the reports and rumors got worse. More spread o'the bad places. More and more missin'. Jareth didn' say nothin' 'bout it, even ta the ones that asked. Just said not to worry, he was the Goblin King."

Sarah rolled her eyes. She remembered that cocky attitude.

"One day, he went off to check on the latest reports, or do somethin' 'bout it all, and…never came back," Hoggle said, sighing. "It got really bad after that."

"So, there's no King in the Labyrinth?"

"Naw, nothin' since Jareth disappeared. He's been gone a while, too…Sir Didymus's been lookin' after stuff. Yah know how he is."

Sarah smiled, remembering the kindly fox. Yes, he would take responsibility to help his kingdom. She leaned back on the sofa, thoughtfully. "Have you looked for the Goblin King?"

"Course!" Hoggle sighed. "We told a trusted few, searched high 'n low in the kingdom, any place we could think of. But nothin'! We were forced to tell everyone Jareth's off findin' a cure for everythin' and he'll be back soon."

"You said it got really bad. How?"

"That changin' o'the land?" Hoggle said. "That's happenin' to the Labyrinth _creatures_ now."

"What do you mean? They're dying?"

"No...Yes? Well, not exactly dyin'…_changin'_, becomin' darker and badder." Hoggle shuddered. "Ain't safe in the Labyrinth no more, least past the Goblin City and the Castle, 'specially after dark. They seem ta get stronger once the sun goes down." Hoggle sighed. "We've kept most o'the baddies out of the Labyrinth proper. Risky, yeah, but not so many deaths. But the outlyin' lands…wouldn't go there even if Jareth himself promised never ta bog me."

Sarah tried to remember the Labyrinth. To her, it had seemed dangerous already – a place where anything could happen to her and where anything was around the corner. She remembered the small, stone passages; the dark forested areas; the strange creatures, some that hadn't seemed very friendly. What would a darker Labyrinth be like? She didn't particularly enjoy the thought.

She said, "What about me, Hoggle? How dangerous is this going to be for me? What if I die or change?"

Hoggle was silent for a long time, again avoiding her gaze and playing with the trinkets on his belt. He liked to run his fingers over them, cause them to tinkle a bit as they rubbed against one another. Finally, he said, "Ain't gonna lie to yah, Sarah. It's gonna be dangerous – maybe the most dangerous thing yah ever done." He looked up and met her gaze. "Can't promise yah safety, can't even promise yah success. I didn' wanna bring yah, and I don' think Didymus did either, 'cuz he kept trying to keep things goin' for a long while even though he knew it was bad. He'd try ta hide it from me, but I knew. Fact he was comin' to me was clear enough, I mean, like I said, I ain't on the up-an'-up, but he needed _someone _to talk ta about all this stuff." He took a deep breath. "I'd rather letcha think the Labyrinth was all a dream than bring yah to danger. You're my…friend."

"I don't want to die, Hoggle," Sarah said, firmly. They stared at each other a few moments as Sarah prepared to turn Hoggle down. She needed to think of herself and her own safety. What did she know about the Labyrinth or magic or saving anybody? Just because she'd gotten her brother back as a young girl didn't mean squat today. And the danger, the real risks, sounded pretty bad.

But then she caught the flash of colored plastic and her gaze was drawn to the trinkets on Hoggle's belt. His thick fingers were worrying a particular, plastic bracelet she barely recognized and it took her a few seconds for the memory to click.

"You kept this?" she said, surprised. She reached forward and touched the bracelet with her fingertips.

"'Course, Sarah. Yah were my friend."

That was a subtle difference in phrase. Hoggle used present tense to describe his friendship to her, and past tense to describe her friendship to him. Sarah's heart ached slightly. She grasped the bracelet, examining it, noticed that for cheap plastic hanging from his belt, it was clean and well kept. She knew, with sudden conviction, that if she refused Hoggle he wouldn't argue, he'd just go back to the Labyrinth to face this challenge alone. She imagined a creeping blackness slinking over the land. She imagined Sir Didymus, Hoggle, and Ludo cowering together in the center of a room as they waited for the blackness to kill them. And another emotion rose in her chest; a determination the kinds of which she hadn't felt in a very long time.

_Champion, huh?_

Sarah thought about the dream and the fortune teller's warning: things would be changing, indeed. And then, before she could change her mind, she leaned back on the sofa, met Hoggle's gaze again, and said, "I'll help you, Hoggle."

Hoggle stiffened, his eyes widened. He really hadn't thought she'd say yes. She was a little surprised she was saying yes, too. She could hear Karen's voice warning her: _"You're too impulsive, Sarah. You need to think things through more." _She pushed the uneasiness out of her mind, focused instead on the hope in Hoggle's eyes.

"Yah sure, Sarah?" he said, softly. And Sarah knew if she changed her mind – if she took back her offer – Hoggle wouldn't judge her or hate her. He'd go back to the Labyrinth without any malice.

That just hardened her resolve. She nodded.

"You're gonna be the Labyrinth's Champion…" Hoggle said, as if reminding her.

She nodded again.

Hoggle stood, smiling. "Well then, we better get goin'!"

# # # #

As it turned out, it wasn't a quick transition from one place to the next. Sarah told him to wait and she went to the hallway closet, where nestled amongst the extra linens were three boxes of junk she'd stored. Opening the top box and rummaging around had procured her old college backpack; worn but still good.

As she pulled it out, she turned and called down the hallway, "Hoggle, how long do you think it'll take? Do I need to pack clothes? Call my family and tell them…something?"

God, what would she tell them to explain _this_? If she disappeared for a few weeks, they were bound to notice. What about work? Part-time jobs didn't accrue much in the way of sick leave.

Hoggle called back, "Pack light! Don' know what's out there. And we'll go straight ta the Castle, where there's plenty o'ways to get clean clothes."

"What about my disappearing?"

From the living room, he called out, "Time! It works differently. Yah won't be missed."

"You're sure?"

A slight hesitation, then, "Yeah!"

Sarah wasn't so sure, but she trusted the dwarf. She took the backpack around the apartment, starting with her bedroom. She stuffed a few clean panties and bras at the bottom, then layered on top a flashlight, a pocketknife, a baggie of toiletries, spray deodorant, a water bottle, a package of goldfish crackers, and a disposable camera. The last item was added as an afterthought, but a tempting one. Who knew when she'd have this opportunity again? A camera might come in handy, at least to document the adventure.

She packed light, remembering Hoggle's advice, and the fact they were going to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City.

Last, she took a quick shower, then changed into jeans and a maroon T-shirt. She put her running shoes back on and completed the look – which she decided to call "Adventurer's Collection" – with a light jacket, one she could tie around her waist if it was too warm.

Finally, she checked to make sure the windows were locked, the air was off, and then presented herself in front of Hoggle, slinging the backpack straps onto her shoulders. "Ready."

Hoggle stood, looked her over, and nodded. "Yah look like a Champion."

Sarah snorted. "Thanks."

"I think I'll give yah this," he said. He took off a necklace and handed it to Sarah.

The cool metal felt heavy in her palm and she studied it carefully. It looked like an arrowhead, except it wasn't sharp and the shape was more stylistic. The tip was pointed, while the edges curved downwards, until they rounded slightly inwards. _A strange mesh of arrowhead and tooth, _Sarah thought, frowning. In the center, in gold, was a symbol she didn't recognize at first. A circle with a scrolled shape in the center.

_This is familiar__…_ She realized, and her mind flashed to Jareth standing so close to her, mocking her bravado. And then, chasing closely on that memory, a better one: dancing with him where she'd spied it peeking out from the folds of his shirt.

She blinked and said, "This is Jareth's necklace."

Hoggle nodded. "Yeah. He left it. We don' know why. Didymus found it." He watched as Sarah slipped the cord over her neck. "Be careful, it's got magic – not much left. Was a reason we were worried, 'cuz the magic is fadin'."

Sarah looked up. "From this?"

"From the Labyrinth," Hoggle said, softly. "It's why we need help _now_. If the magic is fading…I don' know what it means about the King."

_Oh god, Jareth could be__…__? _No, she wouldn't think about that. She refused. But Hoggle's reason for showing up in her life again made much more sense. They were desperate. He hid it well, but maybe she was their last hope.

Well, she hoped she didn't disappoint everyone.

"And the necklace?" Sarah asked, keeping her voice business-like. "It has magic, you say?"

"Yeah, but don' know if it's got much juice left. It got me here. Magic's faded enough that even the goblins can't break through to the Aboveground anymore, so I had ta supplement with the necklace's magic. Might've used it all up…hope not," Hoggle said. "Still, be careful. Don't lose it, dunno much 'bout it, 'cept Jareth _always_ wore it, and that means it's prolly important."

"Will do," Sarah murmured. She touched the necklace, but it just felt like any old metal pendant to her. _Magic, huh? _

A little flicker of excitement licked up her spine, causing her to shiver.

"So, you really ready?" Hoggle asked, bringing Sarah back from her thoughts.

"Ready as ever, I guess," she answered. She found herself gripping the necklace and consciously moved her hand to the backpack strap, gripping that instead.

Hoggle reached out and grabbed Sarah's hand, holding it tightly. Sarah waited. Hoggle waited. They looked at each other.

Then Hoggle said, impatiently, "Yah gots the necklace now."

Sarah blinked. "So?"

"So yer gonna have to get us back to the Underground."

"What?" Sarah smirked, her eyebrows rising to her hairline. "Are you for real? How do I do that?"

"Easy," Hoggle answered. "Just touch the necklace and wish fer it, how else?"

"Oh." She supposed that made sense. _Say your right words__…_ Hesitantly, she touched the pendant again, wrapping her fingers around it and feeling the metal against her palm. She closed her eyes, concentrating as she imagined the Castle.

The Castle Beyond the Goblin City. Despite her beliefs that everything had been a dream – and now realizing it hadn't been a dream but _memory_ – and despite the fact she'd only been fifteen when she'd seen the Castle last, the image of it rose easily in her mind like wet paper rising to the surface of a pond. She saw it against the clay-red sky, with its orange-beige stone, its pointy spires, sharp accents, horrid gargoyle statues that looked like goblins. She held the image in her mind, even though her more sane self was saying: _You want to go back to _that_? Are you crazy, girl?_

She was talking to a dwarf, who insisted that every fantastical thing from her youth was true, and that it was all about to disappear unless she risked her life to save it – and its King. Yeah, she was probably good and insane.

"Focus!" Hoggle hissed.

Sarah scrunched her nose, squeezed her eyes closed even more, held onto that image of the Castle, and whispered, "I wish I was in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City…right now!"

And the world fell away.

Or so it felt, because suddenly Sarah didn't know if she was standing on solid ground. Her feet weren't standing on anything, there was suddenly wind flapping her hair around her face, it was _cold. _She gasped at the sharp, sudden drop of temperature and as the cold wormed its way into her bones. In her palm, the necklace was suddenly fiercely hot. She wanted to let it go, yet something stopped her. _It would be a bad idea, _she thought with a conviction she really shouldn't have.

Tingles ran up and down her spine, along the nerves of her arms to her fingertips, and done to her toes. It was the most uncomfortable and intense feeling; like her entire body was falling asleep. Was she dying? Was this what it felt like?

_Or is this magic? _She wondered.

As for Hoggle, if it wasn't for his tight hold on her hand, and the heat of his skin which seemed almost feverish, she wouldn't know if he was still there, still alive.

She didn't open her eyes – she didn't want to know what was happening.

Instead, she floated or flew – whatever the hell was happening – and lost track of time. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. It _felt _like forever. Suddenly, she realized Hoggle was talking, but his voice seemed to come from a great distance, like the wind was trying to snatch it away before it reached her ears.

"Somethin's wrong!"

Oh great, just what someone wants to hear when they're trying to magically teleport via necklace for the first time. Sarah slowly, reluctantly opened her eyes – and then clamped her mouth down so tight against a scream that her teeth clicked painfully together.

They were half-floating, half-flying through the clay-red sky she remembered. Around her were white clouds, obscuring her vision of anything besides those two colors. The world blanketed in red and white, with no solid ground.

Hoggle was next to her, but it was tough to hear him as he yelled, "Somethin's stoppin' us! We ain't supposed to be here!" He looked around. "We should be at the Castle by now…"

"Maybe I'm not wishing hard enough?" Sarah asked.

She was still gripping the necklace, even though it was very hot. She murmured, surprised that she could push away any uncertainty or quiver in her voice: "I wish we were at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City right now. _Right now!_"

A boring, eventless few seconds passed – if one could call floating in the sky boring or eventless. Even though her feet dangled, she stood upright, and she was thankful for that. If she had been falling, or sideways, she'd probably have puked.

And then, suddenly, the necklace's heat flared so quickly and suddenly, Sarah cried out in surprise and jerked her hand away, fearing it had seared off her flesh. She looked at her palm and there was an angry, red welt that burned with breath-taking pain.

"There!" Hoggle yelled, breaking through her pain.

She looked up and saw…what? At first, her mind wouldn't process. A dark shadow against the white clouds with flapping large wings that were propelling it toward them. She frowned, confused, then her eyes widened as it clicked. _It's a bird. _No, not just a bird, a _humongous _bird, easily the size of a lion, not including the wingspan. It had inky black wings, shining greasily in the red light. There wasn't any color on it, in fact; just blackness. Its head, even its beak was black. As it shifted with the wind, she saw slightly lighter, grayish claws tipped with wicked looking talons. The beak was curved slightly, but pointed and sharp.

It took Sarah a moment to realize what type of bird she was staring at, and she only recognized it because Toby had been fascinated by the Disney movie _The Boy Who Flew with Condors _when he had been eight, for a while watching the movie every couple of weeks and yearning to be a pilot.

As the bird banked again, Sarah knew. It was a condor. A giant condor, bigger than any bird should be.

It was flying toward them, and why did she get the feeling that was bad? Because it was huge, and it seemed to be flying with maliciousness. Was that even possible? Could a bird, outside that Alfred Hitchcock movie, even fly with _maliciousness_?

Hoggle watched it, too, and said, "That ain't right."

No, it certainly wasn't.

"It's comin' for us!" He suddenly yelled. "Sarah! _Wish!_"

Ignoring the pain, Sarah grabbed the necklace again. She winced, forced her eyes closed, focused, and this time yelled the words: "I wish that we were in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City _right now!_"

A few seconds passed and…nothing.

Sarah opened her eyes and saw the condor was only a few yards away. Its beady eyes were focused on the two of them. She could see the red glints of light reflecting off its black feathers.

"Oh god," she gasped. "Please, I wish! I wish! _I wish!_"

The necklace was so hot, it was going to burn her _bad._ It was the only thing keeping her fear in check as the condor shifted so its feet, tipped with those wickedly sharp talons, edged forward ready for attack. The beak widened slightly, as if preparing to take a bite out of them.

And then several things happened at once.

Sarah screamed, unable to stop herself.

The necklace flared with white, hot light, once again forcing Sarah's hand from it or risk burning her flesh off. She heard something crack, a sound unlike anything she'd ever heard before, and gasped as a flare of pain shot through her sternum.

The condor reached them just as the light engulfed them. Hoggle, in desperation, let go of Sarah's hand and pushed her with all the strength in his pudgy body. They shot away from each other with little resistance, moving swiftly through the air even as the light still surrounded them in a glittering cloud. The light stretched, trying to keep them connected, but the condor flew through the middle of them. If Hoggle hadn't acted, where the condor's talons ripped through only sparkling light, that would have been both their bodies.

But, the talons did rip something – the light. It was like the blackness of the bird's body snuffed out the bridge of light connecting Sarah to Hoggle. Or maybe it was the increasing distance between them. The connection broke, and then there were just two clouds of light – one engulfing each of them.

She heard the condor's squall of frustration; heard Hoggle's yell of dismay; and felt something gathering around her. That was the only way to describe it – like something taking a deep breath. Then the world exploded in bright light.

# # # #

Someone was shaking Hoggle, and he didn't like it. Why couldn't people let him sleep? He did enough jobs as it was, between carrying for the grounds around the entrance, spraying the fairies, and general tinkering. Was it so much to ask for a little lie-in?

He flapped an arm uselessly at whatever kept trying to wake him, then he heard a familiar voice say, "Hoggle, was thou successful?"

"Didymus, I'm _sleepin'_…"

"Did thou bring back the Champion?"

That woke him up. He suddenly remembered Sarah, and the condor, and…

He sat bolt upright, looking around. He was lying on the garden floor, with goblins clustered around him watching with their big eyes, silently.

Didymus was crouched beside him, Ambrosius nowhere to be seen. Probably still in the Castle – which loomed over Hoggle like a mountain.

Hoggle pressed a hand to his forehead and said, "Sarah?"

"Yes, did thou find her?"

"Isn't she here?" Hoggle looked around. He was in the Castle garden, but beside the goblins and Didymus, he was alone. Sarah was missing.

Fear spiked through him, clear and sharp. They had broken contact, so it wasn't surprising they'd been teleported separately. But, the necklace's poor powers would have brought her here, right? Why bring him and not her?

"She was wi' me," Hoggle said, despairing. "I managed to convince 'er to help us. She was wi' me and then we was attacked!"

Didymus frowned. "Attacked? By one of the dark creatures?"

"Must've been. Giant bird," Hoggle muttered. "The Labyrinth ain't what it used to be." He rubbed his forehead. "She's got to be around here, she was the one with the necklace. I gave it to her."

Didymus nodded. "We will search."

And they did, they searched for hours through the Castle, until the sun had set and they were searching by torchlight. The Goblins helped, looking through the vast array of oubliettes and dungeons. Echoes of "Sarah? Sarah!" could be heard through the Castle, as every creature tried to find their Champion.

And found nothing that resembled the young woman.

Finally, as dawn began to approach, Didymus and Hoggle went back to the throne room. They stared at the empty throne for a few minutes, each surrounded by a cloud of dismayed, dark thoughts. Finally, Didymus roused himself and straightened to his full height.

"She will find us," he said.

"How can yah be sure?" Hoggle said, bitterly.

Didymus ignored the comment and continued, "Tomorrow, we will search the Labyrinth proper. I cannot…I think it is too risky to send anyone to the outside lands, past the gates, but the Blight hasn't come far enough into the maze…"

"She could be _anywhere,_" Hoggle said, "and we're still runnin' outta time!"

"We have no choice," Didymus said, firmly. "We must find her. We must…" He paused. "Did thou ask her to be Champion?"

"Yeah."

"Specifically, Hoggle my friend, did thou say the word 'Champion'?"

"Yes!"

"And did she agree? Did she _say _'yes'?"

"She…yeah, she agreed."

Sir Didymus nodded. "Well, there is that, then. The Labyrinth will have accepted such a claim, and will not hurt her if she is within the kingdom. It may even guide her to the Castle."

"What if…" Hoggle whispered, as a horrible thought struck him, "what if she ain't in the kingdom no more?"

"Are you suggesting she was thrown into the Wild Lands?" Didymus said, incredulously. "Why would the magic do that?"

"Well, nothin's goin' right, ain't it? Not so far-fetched the worst thing could happen, when yah think about how _lucky _we've been so far," Hoggle said it bitterly, chokingly.

"Let us hope for our sake – and for Sarah's – she's in the kingdom," Didymus murmured. "Because if she's in the Wild Lands, there's no way to help her."

Hoggle sighed. "Knew we shouldn't've dragged her into our mess."

# # # #

Pain was not a good way to start anything, and pain was the thing Sarah knew immediately as she came back to consciousness. Her palm was _burning_, it hurt badly. She wanted to curl around it and whimper, but she also didn't want to move since most the muscles in her body ached. So, instead, she just stayed where she was with her eyes closed as she mentally assessed the situation.

She remembered Hoggle asking for her help; the necklace; the wish to go to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City; that trippy episode of flying-floating; the black condor; and then everything going wrong.

_What happened? _She wondered, but she wasn't exactly sure. Not what was supposed to happen, she knew that. _God, my head hurts. And my hand…and my chest?_

_One thing at a time, _she decided, after a moment. _Open your eyes._

It took her a few moments of saying it to finally comply. Then, a few more moments as her eyes adjusted. What she saw provided her with new information: it was dark and the twisty black things above her were the thick canopy of trees. She was in a forest, which would also explain the dirt and green things smell she got every time she inhaled.

_Next comes sitting up, _she told herself, firmly. This proved more difficult and it was several long minutes before she managed to push herself into an upright, seated position. And she only groaned a few times. The aches in her body made her wince; the pain in her hand made her hiss through clenched teeth. She cradled that hand in her lap, propping herself up with her left.

Leaves crunched underneath her as she moved. Around her, there was only silence.

She licked dry, cracked lips and considered calling for Hoggle, but something made her reluctant to break the silence of this place. After a moment, she pushed herself forward onto her knees, then managed to get onto her feet.

The world swam, her stomach rolled. Acrid bile bubbled in her throat and she managed to keep her before-run smoothie down, just barely. Her backpack had fallen a few feet away, and she tentatively walked over to it and picked it up with her left hand, shaking some leaves off it. She slung it onto her back awkwardly, still cradling her stinging right hand against her chest.

How could she be injured this quickly? She hadn't even started being a real Champion yet.

After a moment of collecting herself, and just breathing steadily, she looked around. Everything looked the same – the same darkness, the same twisty black trees, the same crunchy leaves under her feet. The weather was slightly cool, enough that she was glad she wore the jacket.

She couldn't just stand there, hoping for her friend to come clomping through the underbrush. So, with great trepidation, she said softly, "Hoggle?"

Nothing, just silence.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to half-yell. "Hoggle!" She winced at how loud her voice sounded in her own ears, and yet it didn't seem to travel that far. The trees seemed to block the noise.

There was a rustling, but it quickly died down. Perhaps a rabbit or some other forest creature startled. No Hoggle.

"Dammit," she muttered to herself. "Look at your wonderful Champion now, guys. Was it worth it?" She shook her head. "Alright, that's fine. No need to panic, just think about this rationally and plan a next move, Williams."

What was the rule when lost in the woods? Stay where you are or go looking for help? Besides her sojourns to the park, Sarah had never been an outdoorsy sort of person. She'd gone camping maybe a handful of times – once as a school trip and the other times with her family – and those had all been controlled environments, with RVs or tents and plenty of supplies, and only for a limited time. Even then, she'd secretly admitted to herself that camping just wasn't her thing and she didn't miss it when they returned to civilization.

After thinking about it, Sarah decided she'd walk for a bit. She wanted to see where she was; maybe she was closer to the Goblin City than she thought. But which direction?

She turned in a circle, looking each way, but saw nothing but darkness and trees. Was luck on her side? Considering what had just happened to her, she'd guess no, but still she closed her eyes and picked a direction randomly, pointing into the darkness.

"Okay," she said, "that-a-way!" And just because it brought a smile to her lips, she added: "Come on, feet!"

# # # #

Of course, it was easier said than done. For one thing, the ground was uneven and littered with leaves that hid protruding roots. Sarah, in the dark, stumbled quite a bit and a few times her right hand shot out to clutch the trunk of a nearby tree for balance. When that happened, a yelp of pain came from deep within her and she'd jerk her hand back with a whimper. Sometimes, something would rustle in the undergrowth, as if responding to her pain. Other times, only silence.

When she heard the rustling, she'd freeze, listening so intently she could hear the pounding blood in her veins. Sometimes, she whispered, hopefully, "Hoggle?" But, so far, no luck.

And then she pushed through some trees and bushes growing close together – the branches seemed to grab for her clothes, but she twisted away and shimmied through – and then she nearly fell off a cliff.

The sheer drop where the ground just suddenly ended made her gasp. She skittered back a few steps, nearly falling in her haste.

After a moment of calming her heart, she took a cautious step forward, coming out from the tree line again. There was only three feet of ground, and then it just went straight down. She felt a little dizzy looking down; she could just make out the drop and that was because it was getting lighter.

Finally, she looked up and gasped again at the sight before her.

It was nearly dawn. A pinkish band floated along the horizon, a hint at the glorious sunrise that would come. Against the band of color, situated on a gently rising hill, was the familiar Labyrinth. The pre-dawn kept her from seeing details, but she could make out the dark, large walls. And if she squinted and really stared, she could see the spires of the Castle Beyond the Goblin City against the sky.

In between her and that goal? Miles of unknown territory. This was the Underground, the parts she hadn't traversed. She saw forests mixed with large expanses of desert, and once in a while twinkling lights or the rising of smoke. Towns? Cities? Dare she hope? She noticed, every once in a while, a strange patch of barren ground, like a giant foot had descended from the heavens and squashed flat every living thing. Were these the dead spots Hoggle had mentioned?

To the right was a long mountain range, and just before it she saw a tower with houses clustered around it, if the lights were any indication. To the left was just desert, going as far as the eye could see. Such an odd mix of wasteland and green growth. Surreal.

She looked back to the Labyrinth. How long would it take to walk there? Days? _Weeks? _This was beyond "come on, feet." This was "don't fall off, feet." And she'd packed with the intent of going straight to the Castle – no change of clothes, just goldfish crackers for food and one bottle of water. Frustration and despair bubbled in her chest, throbbing in time to the pain in her hand.

Sarah licked her dry lips and said the first thing to tumble out: "Well, shit."

* * *

_**Author's Notes:** _Wow, time flies doesn't it? Well, here's the next chapter and it's a long one at that! Hope you enjoy it!

One thing I'd like to mention is that there's a lot of dialogue between Hoggle and Sir Didymus. These are the two characters I find hardest to write in the Labyrinth universe, mostly because of their diction. It's been pointed out that a few times I didn't use grammatically correct words for Hoggle and/or Didymus. Some of these were mistakes (which will be fixed later, I'm too tired right now...), but some were choices made for style and how it sounded. Hoggle, in particular. I tend to write his dialogue accounting for how it'll sound, which means that, yes, I bend certain grammar rules sometimes. I hope I do a good job of keeping things interesting and authentic.

**Please leave a review! I love hearing comments from readers; they keep me motivated! :)**

The usual disclaimer: This is a fanfiction written for entertainment purposes only, not for profit. My original characters are my own and cannot be copied, but otherwise the original Labyrinth characters belong to the original copyright holders. Please do _not_ copy or distribute this fanfiction! Thank you.


	3. A Dark and Endless Forest

"_A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us." - John Steinbeck_

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**A Dark and Endless Forest**

As Sarah stared at the landscape, and the sun slowly rose over the hills, she thought to herself, _Don't panic. Just don't panic. Let's think about this rationally. What's the first step? _

She ignored the little voice in her head that insisted the first step was to panic.

Well, the first step was to figure out where she needed to be.

Okay, that was easy. Hoggle had said they'd go to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. Sarah assumed once they had arrived at the Castle, they would think of a way to save the Labyrinth and find Jareth. Could Hoggle be at the castle waiting for her? Maybe he'd gotten lucky and zoomed along, helped by magic, while she'd been stymied and waylaid, for some reason.

_Okay, I know the where. Now I have to think of the how. _How was she going to get to the Castle?

Well, she didn't have a car, bike, rollerblades, or a horse. Nothing to make transportation easier. All she had was her feet. Which left her just where she feared she'd be: having to walk that whole, long way. Wonderful.

She could totally do this, though. She was young and strong, right?

As Sarah gave herself pep talks, she watched the sunrise and was surprised how beautiful it was. In the Labyrinth, the sky had been a strange red. Unsettlingly red, in fact. But this was normal and yet breath-taking at the same time. There were a few wispy clouds that were limned in golden pink hues. The sky was now awash in oranges, reds, yellows, and pinks. Each splashed and mixed around one another until the colors seemed to bleed. Finally, peeking over the horizon was the giant, orange sun; not strong enough to burn or bright enough to blind yet.

Finally, she turned away from the beautiful sight and shifted the backpack. The weight of it was strangely comforting, but she had a feeling that it was going to quickly become exhausting to lug it around.

As she looked around, trying to orient herself and make a mental picture of where the Goblin Castle was, she noticed that the sunrise was just behind it. Good, she just needed to walk east and she should hit the Labyrinth. Right now, she seemed to be on a mountain. Not a very tall or steep one, but one shrouded in a blanket of trees. She'd have to walk north first, then cut down in a northeasterly directions until she would finally be on flat ground, and then she could probably shift to straight east and head toward the Labyrinth.

Of course, all that depended on if she didn't get lost. There was a scary thought. Lost in the forest in the Underground and nobody knew where she was.

Sarah took a deep breath, turning, and then a thought occurred to her. The necklace! It had gotten her here, couldn't she make a wish again? If nothing else, it could magic her back to her apartment.

Excitedly, her fingers quested for the pendant, the words already forming in her mind: _I wish…_

But then they touched an empty leather cord. No pendant, nothing. Surprise and distress spiked through her. Had the pendant come loose and fallen during the whole attacking bird thing? Was it lost forever? She sought it, checking all along the leather cord, and then the folds of her clothes just to make sure. As she checked her neckline, her fingertips brushed against something in her skin.

Something cold and metallic.

She frowned, touching the spot again. Smooth, not the organic consistency of skin. What the hell…? She tried to find the edge, to pry off whatever was sticking to her, and then to her growing alarm she realized she couldn't find the protruding edge. She felt skin and then metal almost seamlessly; there was no lip to hook a fingernail under.

With movements she tried to keep precise and not panicked, Sarah dumped the backpack at her feet and shuffled through it until she found her toiletry bag. Pulling a small, compact mirror from it, she angled the reflective surface until she could see the spot on her skin.

It was the pendant — and it was stuck _in the skin of her neck_. With increasing horror, she pulled at the skin in her neck; pinching, prodding, scratching until her skin was red. She tried to find an edge to pull away the pendant, but it was embedded, as if someone had surgically added it. The edges of her skin were slightly inflamed, but otherwise there was no indication of injury. How had this happened?

She thought back, then remembered the moment the heat of the pendant had become too intense. She'd felt a flare, then the heat had been gone, replaced by a pain in her sternum. The pendant, which was located between the top of her breasts and the hollow of her throat, corresponded to where the pain had been.

_It looks like the damn thing is a stylized arrow pointing to my head, _she thought, with growing hysteria. She dropped the mirror into the toiletry bag and put it back into her backpack with shaking hands. Then, she rested her hands on her knees and breathed deeply. She focused on her breath. In...out...in...out. Nothing to panic over. If she found Hoggle, he would help her. She focused on that thought. _Just find Hoggle. _

_There's no pain, no blood. I'm fine, _she thought, her lips pressing into a determined line. _I'm fine, just get to the Castle and find Hoggle and he'll fix this._

# # # #

It was mid-morning when Sarah was able to identify the nagging familiarity she felt as she walked through the trees. The trees reminded her of the Acadian Forest, a place she'd been to once on a family trip. The trees were shockingly green, the soil rich and dark; there was a mix of trees with skinny trunks and branches that reached elegantly for the sky, and trees with wider more substantial trunks. They all grew close together, forcing Sarah to thread through them. Under her feet, leaves and twigs crunched. The weather stayed cool until the sun was beyond the horizon, then it heated up enough that Sarah slipped off her jacket and tied it around her waist.

As she left the mountain cliffside, the forest came alive. The forest noises were filled with shrieking birds, rustling animals, and buzzing insects. But, besides the insects, Sarah didn't see anything besides herself. Occasionally, she would call out, "Hoggle?"Bso far she heard nothing back.

By the time the sun was filtering through the treetops, and Sarah's wristwatch assured her it was noon, she stopped in a small clearing. Sitting on a fallen log, she had a handful of goldfish crackers and a few sips of water. The crackers barely dented her hunger, but the lack of water was more disturbing. What was she going to do?

It was another few hours, around three in the afternoon now, and her stomach was growling and just beginning to hurt from hunger, when she reached the bottom of the hill. The ground blessedly leveled and she lowered her backpack and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. A faint sheen of perspiration coated her skin. At least the mosquitoes that would have buzzed along her skin, sampling her blood, back Aboveground weren't present here. However, there were plenty of spiders, flies, and other creepy-crawlers she had to flick away.

Suddenly, a wave of fatigue engulfed Sarah like a moist, sucking wave. It timed with the growl of her stomach. Sighing, Sarah slid down the tree trunk and sat in the dirt. She touched the pendant in her skin, felt the cool metal. Her hand throbbed dully, the red welt like the times she'd burned herself cooking. Bad, painful, but would heal in a week or two and probably no scarring. She'd have liked some aloe vera or burn ointment; something to manage the pain.

Another growl of her stomach had Sarah reaching into her pack with her left hand, extracting another small handful of goldfish crackers and taking another few sips of water. Despite her desperate rationing, she'd drank about a quarter of the water bottle already. If she continued, that meant four days of water at best. Sarah put the water away then leaned her head back against the trunk and closed her eyes. She listened to the birds and the rustling of the trees. The barest of breezes filtered through the canopy to touch her face like a gentle caress. She sighed, relaxing. It felt nice…

# # # #

Sarah snorted, woke with a start, and looked around. For a moment, she didn't know where she was; her foggy brain couldn't process why everything was _green_, why a cold breeze was pulling through the rustling leaves, and why was it so dark?

Then it came back to her, along with the realization that she'd fallen asleep. She wanted to kick herself. What had she been thinking? How many hours had she lost? A glance at her watch showed the dial at just past five o'clock. Wonderful, she'd lost most of the afternoon!

Sarah sighed and pressed her hands to her face. An overwhelming urge to cry suffused her and she felt tears prick behind her closed eyelids. Only the knowledge that she couldn't waste the liquid kept her from giving into the emotion and sobbing.

Sarah took a shuddering breath, letting her hands drop to her lap and opened her eyes to stare around more closely. When she tipped her head back to look through the closely knit canopy, she realized the sky wasn't dark, it was gray. Sometime during her nap, clouds had rolled across the sky. There was moisture in the cold breeze, as well, hinting at a coming storm. More bad news — she was going to be alone in the dark, during a storm, wet, _and _cold. Sarah knew enough about wilderness survival to know that being wet and cold was _very bad_. She studied the canopy, wondering how much of the overhead leaves would serve as protection from any rain. She needed to find shelter — and she had no idea where to start.

She stood and with a groan, hefted her backpack up on her shoulders. She turned to keep walking and paused, frowning. _Wait, something else is different. _It took her a few minutes of searching her mind, wondering what had set off alarm bells, when she realized: _The only noise I can hear is the wind._

There were no bird noises, no insects, no rustling of animal feet. The noises she'd heard earlier were gone. The silence was so thick that once she acknowledged it, she shivered with unease. With the growing darkness, the cold wind, and the lack of noise, the forest seemed like a completely different place. No longer was it like the Acadian Forest, a place that was rooted in memory and familiarity. The forest was like the dark places in fairy tales, where anything could happen.

_Keep moving, _she thought. The need gripped her like a fist, pulling her feet into motion. Why it seemed so important to keep moving she couldn't have said, but she heeded the urge.

Although the ground was level, it was still treacherous because of roots, rocks, and other uneven ground hidden amongst fallen leaves. She had to carefully pick her way through the trees. The only noise she heard, besides the wind and rustling leaves, were her own footfalls.

It grew dark quickly. The cloud cover became thicker, and soon fat drops of rain pelted Sarah, managing to find her despite the canopy above her head. It started slowly, just a drizzle, but within half an hour it was pouring. Quickly, far too quickly, her clothes were wet and her hair was plastered to her face. She kept moving, pulled by the urge she'd felt earlier but also the desperation to keep warm.

But, it was a losing battle. The rain was bitingly cold; the drops that hit her made her gasp and numbed her flesh. Soon, shivers wracked her body. She needed shelter.

She found a little relief when she squeezed through a particularly thick set of trees and saw a giant oak. The branches had grown in a sweeping arc, moving forward before tilting upwards, which caused a little lip. If it had been a sunny day, Sarah would have considered climbing the tree and sitting on the cradle of branches for a rest, but instead she pressed her back against the rough bark and used the sparse cover to protect herself from the rain. It wasn't much cover; she couldn't move around. She checked the contents of her backpack, pleased to see it was mostly dry inside, then dropped it to the floor and leaned her head back with a sigh. The shivers were already getting worse, and the chill felt like it was eating at her bones.

After a slight hesitation, she rooted around her backpack and pulled out five goldfish crackers. She ate them slowly, savoring the salty, cheddar flavor on her tongue. Her stomach lurched, greedy for more. She counted them as she slowly chewed them one by one.

_One...two…_

A twig snapped. Sarah's head jerked up, her gaze scanning the trees. Everything looked the same after a while: green, bark, dirt. It all mixed together. She didn't see anything. After a moment of her heart hammering in her chest, but nothing moving, she licked the crumbs from her fingertips and popped another cracker in her mouth. Chewing slowly, she thought, _Three._

Another snap of a twig, and this time Sarah saw something move at the periphery of her vision. She whipped around, facing that direction, her gaze desperately scanning and trying to find _something_. Was it an animal? _Please let it be an animal…_

And then she saw it. A flash of white. She focused on that spot in the trees. She wanted to yell at whatever was out there — maybe that would scare it away. But, she was frozen by her own fear.

Something stepped out of the trees into the little clearing near the oak. Sarah gasped, her heart pounding so fast she thought she would faint. Dizziness spread across her vision, followed by a blackness, simply by the fear that gripped her. She blinked it all away, afraid more of what would happen if she fainted.

Across from her, only a dozen feet away, was a creature out of the darkest fairytale. It had the upper body of an athletic man, with tightly corded muscles running along its arms and well defined, hairless abdominals.

Sarah's gaze went downwards, unable to deal with the head yet. The man — no, the _creature's _— legs were like a buck's, ending in hooves. Each leg was encased in soft, dark fur. It was short enough that she could see the creature was very naked, the evidence of his gender hanging heavy between his legs.

Sarah couldn't hold back a small, squeaky whimper as her gaze moved back up to the thing she didn't want to see even more so than this creature's nakedness. The white flash that had originally alerted her of its presence was actually bone.

The creature had the head of a buck, with majestic antlers coming from his head. But, the creatures eyes glowed faintly red-orange, full of malice as he watched Sarah. And, worse, his face was rotting.

The was the only way Sarah could describe it. His face was more bone than flesh; only slight shreds of meat and patches of fur stuck to the bone. She'd have thought it was a man with an old, rotting deer skull on his head if it wasn't for the fact there was no indication the skull was resting on anything human. Fur started at the jawline, encased his neck and sprinkled across his broad chest. The deer's narrow skull, with the glowing eye sockets surrounded by patches of fur and rotting flesh, and the sweeping antlers, were something nightmaric — pushed to another level by his strong, naked body.

The last two goldfish crackers fell from Sarah's numb fingers. Dimly, working on automatic, she grabbed her backpack. She didn't take her gaze off the creature. She slowly moved a step away from him, clamping her lips tightly when the cold rain pelted her again and made her want to gasp. She blinked rain water out of her eyes.

He shifted from one foot to another, his chest rising slowly and a faint mist visible in front of the skull's teeth as he breathed.

The movement broke whatever spell had been on Sarah. Fear crashed over her like a wave. With a whimpery gasp, she whirled and was running before she had even processed what she'd do. She thundered through the forest, not caring how much noise she made.

At first, she thought she'd be safe — that this monster wouldn't chase her — but then she heard his heavy footsteps behind her. He wasn't being quiet either.

Sarah's heart lurched. She was going to die of a heart attack from the fear before she even outran him. Unaware of what she was saying, she whimpered out a prayer: "Please, please, please." She wasn't sure who she was begging to, but she kept the mantra up as she twisted through trees and jumped over fallen branches, uneven ground, and logs. She'd never been good at track and field, but spurred by fear and adrenaline, she didn't think about it. She didn't think about much; the only thing playing like a broken track in her head was: _get away! Get away! Run faster!_

"Hoggle!" she screamed as she leaped over a large, fallen tree. It nearly snagged her, causing her to stumble. She chanced one glance back. With a strangled cry, she whirled and kept running.

He was right behind her, coming through the trees like a dark spirit, his eyes glowing faintly.

She risked another look, just in time to see him vault over the fallen tree. Muscles corded and bunched. He didn't even seem winded. She saw a flash of dessicated skin hanging from a cheekbone and the long, ivory whites of the skull's teeth.

With a shudder, she whirled back and nearly collided with a tree. She bounced off and around it, gasped at the slight pain in her foot where she'd stubbed a toe. But she didn't have time to acknowledge the pain.

"Hoggle!" she yelled again, as if the dwarf would magically appear to save her.

A root curved above the ground. She jumped, but even as she did she knew she hadn't cleared it. She'd forgotten about her backpack. Her foot twisted as it caught, she cried out in pain. She screamed, "_Jareth!_" — a final plea for safety — and then she fell.

She managed to catch herself on her hands and knees, but a new white-hot agony went through her as her burned palm scraped across the forest floor.

She didn't stay in that position long. She whirled, faced the danger.

He was there, a foot away from her, towering over her. Watching her. She froze, like any animal cornered by a predator. She didn't even want to breathe, as if stopping would make her disappear.

The creature's chest heaved and glistened with rain. Droplets streamed down the skull, hanging at the jawline before falling on his skin and beading in the fur. He tilted his head, a glowing eye staring directly at Sarah. Now that she was so close to him, she could see there _were _eyes, not just a socket. They were brown, but in the center was that unearthly glow.

He moved forward, straddling her legs. Sarah made a choked, keening noise she'd never heard before. The fear was so bad — so black and total — that she was sure her head would burst from it. An aneurysm. Death by fear. Even now, she could barely think, barely react, barely move. She was shivering, but she wasn't sure if it was from cold or fear.

Sarah's fingers dug into the soil, as if she could suck courage from the earth itself.

The creature crouched so they were eye-to-eye. She could _feel _the weight of him on her legs. She shuddered, trying to inch back, but his weight kept her legs pinned and the backpack kept her from moving easily.

Time ticked by as they stared at each other. She wasn't sure if it was a moment or an hour, but finally, the creature raised a hand and slowly moved it toward Sarah's face.

She gasped, leaned back. _Don't let him touch you! _Her mind screamed and she reacted by throwing dirt at him.

Sarah would forever remember the noise of the dirt hitting his skull. It wasn't a soft sound but like something wet falling on concrete. A splattery, plinky noise from the top layer of mud and the lower layer of dry dirt she'd grabbed. He'd turned at the last second, shielding his eyes, so instead it smeared across a cheekbone, with gritty bits stuck to his teeth and any fleshy gore on his face. He turned back slowly, his eyes blazing, and Sarah had enough time to wonder if she'd just made things worse before he moved.

He was quick, inhumanly quick. He grabbed her neck. Sarah choked, gurgled, her eyes widening in surprise. His hand was big enough and his body strong enough that as he stood, he dragged Sarah with him until she dangled an inch off the ground, backpack and everything, all her weight hanging from her neck.

She couldn't breath.

She weakly mewed, unable to even scream, as she clawed and kicked. He could easily dodge her feet, extending her away from his body. And although her nails left deep, bloody gashes on the skin of his arm, he didn't react.

Red-tinged, dark bubbles sprang across her vision, bringing the creature in and out of focus. Her lungs burned, desperately wanting to take a breath. She was making the worst noises — desperate wheezing sounds, plaintive and begging. She wasn't even kicking anymore, just hanging limply as she tried to claw his arm off and get some relief.

She felt the backpack straps slip off her limp arms and heard it hit the ground.

_I'm dying, _she realized, as the red bubbles turned into black flowers blooming across her vision, obscuring everything. The strength ebbed away from her and her arms went numb and limp. She dangled like a fish on a hook, her eyes rolling up until she dimly saw the canopy of the forest. She couldn't even feel the rain.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light which caused the blackness filming her vision to turn gray. A moment later, she was dropped to the ground.

She fell like a sack of flour, boneless. It took her a moment to realize she could breathe again. She turned onto her stomach and pressed a hand to her throat, gasping blessed lungfuls of air. It felt cold, burning her throat. With the air, her vision came back into focus — and pain. Her throat hurt, her foot hurt, her burned palm _especially _hurt. She shifted, touching her neck with her left hand instead. She felt something hot against her skin, sought it out with questing fingers. The pendant! It was usually cold in her skin, but now it was hot like when she'd been wishing.

Weakly, she turned onto her back, propping herself on her elbows, and looked at the creature.

He was cradling his hand against his chest. She saw singed fur and a moment later smelled the acrid scent of it. He glared at her, his eyes blazing again, and despite the burns he reached for her.

Sarah gasped, shrinking back, but this time the pendant flared so bright that the forest was momentarily lit; the trees' bark looked silvery and the rain twinkled.

The creature jerked his hand away, took a step back.

Again, they stared at each other. After what felt like eternity, Sarah slowly shifted until she was crouched. She kept her eyes on the creature, pushing herself to her feet. He didn't move, merely watched her — or maybe he was staring at the faint glow of the pendant.

Experimentally, ready to react if he moved toward her again, Sarah took a step back. The creature didn't move, although his burned hand flexed and released, flexed and released, as if he imagined grabbing her throat again.

She grabbed her backpack, hoisted it on her shoulders, took two more steps, wary and watchful. Still, the creature didn't move. _He fears the pendant, _Sarah thought, smiling triumphantly.

She whirled and ran. She was slower now, her injuries forcing her to carefully move around obstacles. Rain water obscured her vision, and her hand hurt so badly.

Then she heard heavy footsteps behind her. She knew with that instinctual, animalistic part bent on survival, that he was following her. He was moving slower — no longer running to keep her close — but the fact he was following her brought fresh terror.

Her pace increased.

And she got careless in her haste. A tree root snagged her and with a cry, she tripped over the edge of a hill. Again, she used her hands to try and stop her descent but this time it wasn't enough. She fell down the hill, feeling sharp twigs and rocks cut her. The backpack was another painful weight as it caused her to slide along the ground instead of roll. By the bottom, she was muddy and scratched.

She crawled away from the small hill, chancing a look up. The creature stood above her, watching her as she crawled away. But, he made no move to follow her down the hill.

Sarah pushed herself to her feet and limped forward, turning away from the creature. A small, bubbling brook cut through the forest and she realized that this wasn't a hill but an embankment. A similar wall was at the opposite end, bracketing the brook.

The water was shallow, easy to cross, and the brook's bed lined with pebbles and rocks. If Sarah had been fully cognizant, she'd have tried to cross by hopping from rock to rock. But, now, she was tired and injured; her energy was quickly ebbing. She didn't know how far she could go before collapse. She splashed through the brook, unthinking about the cold even as her shoes became wet and leaden and her feet numbed.

She glanced back. The faint glow of the pendant was ruining any adjustment her eyes had made to the dark, but she could see the whiteness of the creature's skull.

She wanted to dip her burning hand into the water, but she kept moving. She nearly flopped onto the embankment, she felt so weak. On hands and knees, she crawled up, forcing herself to ignore the pain in her hand. Once she made it to level ground, she collapsed, gasping for breath. She didn't hear any noises behind her and when she glanced back, she couldn't see the creature anymore. The forest was dark, unbroken, and hazy from rain.

Sarah wasn't sure she was safe, so she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled a few steps. She saw something strange; a square shape that didn't fit with the organic forest. She was so tired it took her a minute to realize it was a cabin — the logs it was made out of nearly camouflaged it amongst the trees.

_Please, let it be shelter, _she thought, stumbling through the woods for a few minutes before she entered the clearing that housed the cabin. It was small, with a low ceiling, a chimney, and one window facing the brook. Against the back of the house was a canvas tarp which shielded a stack of chopped wood. A little further from that, a smaller structure that had to be an outhouse.

Sarah was nearly dragging her backpack now, surprised she'd managed to keep it through everything that happened. She walked up to the door and lifted a hand, but hesitated at the last moment. Who would be on the other side?

But what were her other options? Sit here on the doorstep where the slight overhang of the roof provided some shelter from the rain? Freeze or starve in the forest? Risk the creature again?

It was the thought of the creature that made her knock. She didn't think she could face that skull with his blazing eyes and naked body again.

The knock sounded very loud in the otherwise quiet forest, and the wood was rough against her knuckles. She lowered the backpack to her feet, waiting.

Nobody came.

She walked around the house to one of the windows and peeked inside, pressing her face close to the glass. It was dark, nothing moved; she could barely make out a bed, and a wood-fire stove. She walked back to the front door and nudged her backpack with a toe, thoughtfully. What now? Fatigue sucked at her like a sinkhole. She considered just leaning against the door and sleeping until whoever owned the cabin came home. But now that the creature wasn't chasing her, she could also feel the horrible cold, the weight of her wet clothes, and how much she was shivering. What if she fell asleep...and didn't wake up?

As she considered her next move, she noticed how well kept the cabin was. Someone took pride in this dwelling. None of the wood was rotted, the windows were clean, and the ground around the cabin meticulously kept. A stone had been inlaid in front of the door as a kind of threshold, and to keep mud away from the door. Bushes had been cultivated close to the door, and there was a single, potted plant. The pot made from an empty glass. A clump of purple flowers grew, a strangely colorful display in the otherwise green-and-brown surroundings.

Sarah considered the plant. It was a strange addition. There were no other blooming flowers around, potted or otherwise.

A memory came to her mind. She remembered after the third time her father had accidentally locked everyone out of the house, he'd claimed to have found a solution to his forgetfulness. When he'd proudly shown the family, Karen had gently chastised him.

"_Right there, out in the open, Robert?" _her voice meandered through Sarah's memories. _"Anyone with half a brain would look under that rock, it's the biggest one."_

Sarah leaned down and lifted the plant. Underneath was an old style skeleton key. She placed the pot nearby, took the key, and tried the door. It slipped easily and with a gentle twist, the door slowly opened on well-oiled hinges. It didn't even creak.

Inside, the cabin smelled a little stale; the windows needed to be opened and the entire room aired out. Instead, Sarah immediately dumped her wet backpack in the corner, near the pot-bellied wood stove and shoved the door closed. A giant wood plank secured across it, locking the door from the inside. It fell into place with a loud _bang_, instantly making her feel more secure.

She explored, feeling like Goldilocks, except there was only one of everything: one bed, a small table with one chair, one sink, one counter made of cut wood planks. On the counter was one bowl, one plate, one cup, and one of each utensil. There _were_ three pots, of varying sizes, and a fry pan. They hung on hooks above the counter. A large can with a label for dried beans, held cooking utensils instead. Near the stove was a free-standing, small larder that came up to Sarah's chest. It only had three shelves, but each one was carefully organized with cans of beans, beef jerky, spices, dried pasta, a few bottles that looked like beer, and other odds and ends.

Sarah's stomach clenched insistently. She grabbed beans, beef jerky, and spices. Took a pot, filled it with water from the pump tap at the sink, and paused when her burnt hand protested. She'd been so engrossed in feeding herself, she'd forgotten about her injury. She looked at it carefully now. It looked bad: red, welted, with a large blister that was rising. She pumped water over it, which made it feel a little better. The water was so cold, it quickly numbed her fingers.

After a few minutes, when she couldn't take the cold water anymore, she turned away from the sink and found a stack of wood in a chest near the stove, and matches in the larder. After some struggling, she got a fire started in the stove. For long moments, she simply watched the fire through the grate, smiling at how luxurious the warm air felt against her cold, wet skin. She piled the ingredients into the water-filled pot and set it on the stove.

Exploring the area around the bed, she found a low chest underneath and pulled it out. Inside was an extra set of clothes, as well as something that looked like a towel, and an extra blanket. Or, at least, a large square of cloth. She considered the clothes for a moment, guilt bubbling through her stomach. The inner debate was fierce, but in the end she couldn't take someone's clothes, especially since this was the only ones in the chest. Everything in this cabin screamed sparse; Sarah already felt guilty enough using the food.

So, instead, Sarah pushed a chair near the stove and draped her things over it to dry, then wrapped the extra blanket around herself. After checking the soup, she poured herself a bowl and sat on the floor by the wood stove, savoring each mouthful. It didn't taste great, but she was too hungry to care. The soup was hot in her belly, and managed to warm the last of her from the inside out. Sarah had seconds, then left the rest in the pot and leaned back with a contented sigh.

She jerked awake a few minutes later, realizing she had fallen asleep from the warmth in her stomach and the warmth on her skin. Despite her reluctance, she put on her damp clothes and took a trip to the outhouse. She kept an eye on the woods, jumping at every noise, and hurried into the house as quickly as possible, once again barring the door. After a moment's thought, she pushed the chest and table in front of the door as added leverage. Only then, with a full belly and a blocked door, did Sarah truly relax.

Since her clothes were still damp, she once again piled them on the chair and put it by the stove, then wrapped herself in the blanket and crawled onto the bed. Already, her eyes were heavy. Sarah slowly slipped into a comfortable oblivion while listening to the crackle of the wood-burning stove.

# # # #

She was dreaming. Some strange, half-waking, half-sleeping dream. She knew because her eyelids were too heavy to open, yet the darkness had lightened as if she was facing the sun. There was a warmth on her face, as well, and the sweet smell of flowers surrounded her. She could dimly hear the buzz of insects and the call of birds. It was warm enough in this dream that the blanket around her felt itchy and uncomfortable.

Soft footsteps approached. She tensed, wishing she could open her eyes, but it seemed this dream was going to be conducted in blind darkness. Instead, she felt someone lean over, blocking the brightness. She smelled a teasing, spicy aroma — it sparked recognition in her memory, but she couldn't grasp from where she'd encountered the scent before — and liberally overlaying it was the pungent aroma of freshly tilled Earth.

She felt a warm breath on her cheek and tensed, then cool hands brushed her forehead, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Can it really be you?" a familiar voice said, and she felt a jolt of surprise like lightning down her spine.

_Jareth? _Sarah tried to open her eyes, desperately wanting to see and confirm the owner of the voice.

"Have things really gotten that bad?" he said. He sounded...amused. Not angry, sly, or manipulative but amused and...tired?

Again she felt the brush of his fingertips. This time his thumb glided over the arch of her eyebrow in a light, feathery touch. It caused a strange sensation in her stomach, and if she had control over her movements, she'd have shivered.

"Are you here to help me, precious?"

_Yes, _Sarah wanted to say. _Where are you?_

He said something else, but she couldn't hear him now. Instead, his voice faded and Sarah took a deep breath — suddenly able to move — before slowly opening her eyes.

Someone was leaning over her. For a moment, Sarah thought it was the Goblin King. But as she blinked her scratchy, tired eyes, she realized it was a woman with a broad face leaning over her. Her lip was curled in a sneer.

She clutched something tightly. Sarah focused, and froze, alarm jolting through her body as the last of her drowsiness abruptly vanished.

The woman was holding an ax.

* * *

_Author's Notes: _Yay! Another chapter! And yes, our favorite tight-panted hero-villain makes an appearance...kind of. I hope this slow build-up is worthwhile, and the action has been adequately suspenseful. I'm anticipating a glittery appearance from our favorite Goblin King next chapter, or so. Maybe poor Sarah will get some answers. And what is happening with Hoggle and co.? Hmm... Stay tuned!

**_Please review! _**Your comments/suggestions are wonderful encouragement to keep going and helps silence my Inner Critic. ;) I've tried my best with editing, but if you spot anything, (constructively) let me know!

_Usual disclaimer: This fanfiction is written for entertainment purposes only, not profit. Any original characters are my own (please do not copy them), otherwise all characters belong to the original copyright holders. Please do not alter/distribute/copy this work! Thank you!_


	4. Not Little Red Riding Hood

"_The story is written, the slip of a girl is loosed_

_And her life folds over. Against the cold, the waiting_

_For the what will happen. The next. Wonderful_

_Awful." - Mary Jo Bang, "Untitled"_

**CHAPTER FOUR: Not Little Red Riding Hood**

The Castle was quiet. Hoggle didn't like it. Before, he didn't spend much time in the Goblin City, or the Castle. A part of that reason had been the King, who hadn't been very welcoming. Another part of it had been the goblins, which had been chaotic at best. Now, the halls were always strangely — eerily — quiet.

Hoggle walked as quickly as his short legs would take him. He went into the throne room and found the imposing chair, constructed out of gray slate and carved with cavorting goblins, empty. It was strange to feel the tinge of disappointment. It had been weeks since he'd seen his king sitting there, and yet a part of him still dared hope.

Near the throne were cushions, broken chairs, and pots that the goblins were using as seats. They were weak from their powers slowly siphoning away that they barely moved. Instead, they slowly walked like old men a few feet before collapsing on each other drunkenly. The goblins conserved their energy these days; their usual high energy antics were noticeably absent.

For a moment, Hoggle wondered if Jareth would have liked these meek, quiet goblin. He was constantly complaining he never had a moment's peace. Hoggle, who had secretly agreed to such comments, found the peace and quiet unsettling. He wanted things back to normal — the goblins climbing and skipping and drinking with their usual endless energy and the King threatening to bog the lot of them.

As Hoggle approached, dozens of gazes looked up and watched. One gray-skinned goblin with large, brown eyes stopped buffing a saucepan with a dirty cloth long enough to say, "Sarah?"

Hoggle winced at the hopeful tone in the goblin's voice. He gruffly muttered, "No sign yet."

Some goblins sighed, others merely dipped their heads back, staring at the ceiling. Others went back to what they'd been doing previously. The one who had asked simply nodded and stared at his saucepan, buffing slowly.

"Is it the same?" Hoggle asked, feeling like he should say something.

The goblins sighed. One said, "No magic...so _not _fun."

"Not fun," another agreed.

"Weak," a third murmured.

"What's happening to the magic?" So far, the goblins hadn't been able to give an adequate reply, which was frustrating because if anyone would know — besides Jareth — it would be them. The goblins were intrinsically linked to the Labyrinth; they had been the original people of this land.

The goblins glanced at one another. The one buffing the saucepan stopped again and threaded the cloth through his fingers, thoughtfully. He said, "Labyrinth dying."

"What?" Hoggle shuddered. "What do yah mean?"

The goblins shrugged. "Only answer for magic going away. If Labyrinth is dying, no magic."

"What happens if it dies?" Hoggle whispered.

The goblins murmured amongst themselves, thoughtfully. He heard many answers in those murmurings, trying to pick them out:

"We all die."

"Land is gone. Maybe just land?"

"Labyrinth gone."

"Goblin King...gone."

"End, it will be end! No games, no fun! No happy!"

He tried to get more information from them. What did they mean "land gone" and "Labyrinth gone"? How could they go? But, the goblins became more agitated, waving their arms and flailing, showing more energy than they had in a while. They continued to yell, "Land gone! King gone! _All gone!_"

Finally, Hoggle threw up his hands and said, "Forget I asked. It won't happen anyway. Sarah'll stop it. Or Jareth. _Someone_."

The goblins lapsed into silence, simply staring at him. Their stillness, so alien in their race, was unnerving. So Hoggle shuffled a bit toward the door and said, "Have you seen Sir Didymus?" It was the original reason he had come.

"Library," the goblin with the saucepan said, turning back to his careful cleaning.

Hoggle fled.

He found Sir Didymus sitting at the only table in the library — a long, wooden one that had eight chairs clustered around it, all mismatched and rickety — and surrounded by books until not a part of the table's surface was free. The fox delicately licked a paw and flipped a page, engrossed in what he was reading.

Hoggle could easily see the gold lettering on the cover: _A Treatise and History of the Labyrinthe._ Hoggle hesitated, then cleared his throat gently.

It sounded very loud in the quiet of the library.

Sir Didymus looked up, his face framed with dust motes that sparkled in the light streaming in from the stained glass windows. A pair of skinny, reading spectacles with wire frames perched on his snout, even though one eye was still obscured by an eyepatch. Dangling from a golden chain attached to his collar was his usual monocle, unneeded for reading books.

"Ah! Sir Hoggle!" Didymus said, cheerfully. The delicate gold frames of the spectacles flashed brightly in the otherwise shrouded room.

Hoggle, not for the first time, wondered how the fox always managed to do that; to rally his cheer and put on a brave face. Hoggle wanted to scream with frustration and weep with uncertainty. The way he saw it, they were doomed: Sarah missing, Jareth missing, the goblins weak from their magic seeping away, the Labyrinth slowly turning darker by the day…

Instead, Hoggle said, "What're you doin', Didymus?"

"Research, my friend," Sir Didymus answered. "Was it not the Wiseman who once said 'preparedness is like having extra underwear when stranded on an island'?"

"Sounds like something that loon would say," Hoggle muttered, moving toward the one window that didn't sport a stained glass scene. He remembered that the goblins had once snuck into the library, drunk on grog or ale or some vicious drink, and proceeded to wreak havoc. The furniture had been destroyed, pages of the books stuck together with spilled drink, fingerprints over every surface, and the window broken when they'd hurled a frying pan from it to see if it could fly.

In fact, it had been the chanting of "Flying pan! Flying pan!" that had alerted Jareth. Hoggle remembered how he'd yelled and rampaged, bogging every goblin and a few other creatures in his anger. He'd used quite a bit of magic to put the room to rights, but the stained glass had been replaced with clear glass, and the chairs were now mismatched. Sometimes, Hoggle wondered if Jareth's powers were as perfect as he wanted them to seem, or as powerful. He'd never voice that thought, though. Or maybe he liked the reminder of how imperfect his world was.

Now, as Hoggle leaned against the window and stared out at the Labyrinth, he thought: _I can't believe I miss all that. I'd take a rampaging, bogging Goblin King right now! _

He could see the Blight, as they'd begun to call it. Places of the Labyrinth where things had stopped growing. Instead, there was just desert; a patch of wasteland. But, what was more disturbing was it had begun to creep into the Labyrinth proper. He could see dark patches, like black moss, growing on the walls of the Labyrinth. Wherever the black stuff grew, the wall had begun to crumble. Fissures came out from the edges of the growths, sometimes he even spotted debris crumbling off the walls. Criss-crossing these Blighted parts were vines of verdant green snaking up from the ground, as if the very Labyrinth was trying to hold its walls together. Every so often, a beautiful scarlet flower bloomed. If nothing else, the flowers gave the Labyrinth some coloring. But, it was obvious just from a glance the vines weren't enough; every day the Blight spread a little more. Soon, the walls would fall around them. Worse, since the Blight had crept past the gates, the citizens had fled for the Goblin City. The Labyrinth was abandoned, except for dark shadows. Hoggle assumed these were the Blighted — the poor creatures that had been overcome by whatever was taking over the area. They changed, becoming violent and bloodthirsty. An assault on their defenses from the inside out.

Hoggle shuddered and moved away from the window. He turned back to Sir Didymus and said, "Whatcha doin' that fer? Shouldn't we be lookin' fer Sarah?"

"Where?" Sir Didymus said. He licked a paw and turned another page. The rustle of paper sounded so loud. "Sir Hoggle, I am at my wit's end. Sarah is not in the Castle proper, she is not in the City. We checked the Labyrinth...when it was still doable. Now? We are trapped."

"There's the tunnels."

Sir Didymus put the book down, keeping a claw between the pages to keep his place. "Yes, but what is in there? Have you seen the Blighted wandering the Labyrinth?"

"Of course I 'ave —"

"Would you risk exploring the tunnels?"

Hoggle didn't answer, and after a moment Sir Didymus nodded.

"But, we gotta do _somethin'_ —"

"I am, Sir Hoggle." Sir Didymus picked the book back up.

"Yah found anythin'?" Hoggle came closer, looking at the book with more interest.

Sir Didymus said, enigmatically, "Information, Hoggle. Information abound."

"But anythin' _useful?_"

"How should I know, my good sir?" Sir Didymus shook his head. "Right now, I merely read to learn. Care to join me? Perhaps two heads will be better than one. The Wiseman would certainly think so."

"That sounds more like that damn bird." Hoggle shuffled back a few steps. "Naw, I ain't the readin' type."

"Suit yourself, Sir Hoggle," Sir Didymus said, pushing his snout close to the book once again, straightening his spectacles with a careful flick of his paw.

Hoggle watched him for a few moments, then turned and left. He wandered without aim, lost in thought. He passed the throne room, glanced the goblins again as they lounged around listlessly. He continued into the Escher Room, looking around with disgust. He hated this area of the castle, it always confused him. However, he knew a secret — a secret Ludo had once told him, long ago, before leaving the Labyrinth for the mountains. The very stone bricks of the Castle had told Ludo the secret of the Escher Room. The only other person to know this secret was the Goblin King.

He looked around carefully and found the doorway he needed. It was across a walkway, down one flight of stairs, and across another walkway. It looked the same as the others, except for one tiny red flower — similar to the ones now growing on the Labyrinth walls — that peeked through a crack in the rocks next to the doorway. This marked the door as one that never changed. The other doors would sometimes be upside down, sometimes sideways, sometimes right-side-up. But this one would always be at the same place, and it was the start of the way.

Sometimes, starting right-side-up was everything.

Hoggle put a chubby hand against the wall, just past the red flower. The other part of the secret was the left hand side of the wall never broke. If Hoggle followed it, he could navigate through the Escher Room into the darker, older parts of the castle. The parts he suspected were older than even Jareth.

Keeping his hand on the wall, feeling the rough stone under his palm, he walked slowly through the Escher Room. He came out of one doorway after another. Sometimes, he was upside down, sometimes sideways, sometimes he wasn't even sure what side was up. No matter what, he kept his hand on the left wall. Soon, the masonry was older; the light dimmer. The Escher Room was behind him and he was in a tight corridor, the floor softly sloping downwards. If he continued on, he'd enter the tunnels. They spiraled and zig-zagged underneath the Labyrinth. They were another Labyrinth unto themselves.

This old kingdom he'd called his home for so long he couldn't remember a time it wasn't was just Labyrinths upon Labyrinths.

Hoggle hadn't really planned what he would do. Impulse had driven him here, but he knew now he'd keep going. He touched the plastic bracelet, threaded on his belt with the others, and murmured, "I'm comin', Sarah. Jus' hold on."

# # # #

Sarah gasped, her muscles stiffening and adrenaline blooming in her blood until her ears rang with tension.

The woman was staring at her carefully, angrily; the grip on the axe tight. She was a big woman, imposing as she leaned over Sarah. Her face was broad, darkened and roughened by time outside, sprinkled with mottled freckles, and finished with a delicate pixie chin at odds with the rest of her. She had a wide, muscular body — stocky but strong. She wore simple clothes stained with mud and damp from rain. She smelled like wet leaves. Her eyes were the dark brown of tree bark and her hair was red-brown, luminous even in the dim light from the stove's fire.

This once-over was done in a few seconds, and Sarah saw the woman doing the same to her. Sarah tightened her grip on the blanket, trying to keep her expression from revealing how afraid she was.

"What," the woman said, slowly enunciating every word, "are you doing in my house?"

Her voice was low and raspy, the kind that would be found on a blues singer or in a jazz lounge, not in the middle of the woods in a small cabin.

Sarah said, "I—I…"

Of course, this did not satisfy the woman, who glowered even deeper and darker before saying, "You broke into my house and barred the door to me. You've eaten my food, touched my things, and…" She racked Sarah with another look, her nose wrinkling, "please tell me you aren't naked under _my _blanket!"

Sarah winced. "I can explain."

"Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you now," the woman said, calmly.

Sarah shuddered. She looked into those dark eyes and wondered if she would be so easily killed. If this woman could do it like it was nothing — like her voice made it sound.

"I'd have died otherwise," Sarah said. She was panicking a bit, and blurting out whatever came to her head. "Some freak monster thing was chasing me. It had the head of a rotting deer! Or—or stag. Or something!"

"Yes," the woman said. "This is a dangerous place. You're foolish to come here without weapons and…" she did a once-over again, "you look weak."

Sarah frowned, feeling a slight spark of irritation. Here she was, beyond vulnerable, naked under the blanket, in some stranger's house. Yes, she knew the risks when she entered the house, but she had been fighting for her life. Where was the compassion? Where did this woman get off telling her it was no big thing?

"Trust me, lady," Sarah snapped, "if I'd had a gun or a knife, I'd've used it. But I wasn't supposed to be in this forest, and I came _woefully _under prepared. I didn't even have enough food. I was desperate, or I wouldn't have interjected on whatever little Thoreau hermit experience you've got going on here."

The woman raised her eyebrows and simply asked, calmly, "Where are you supposed to be?"

Sarah hesitated, but finally she murmured, "The Labyrinth."

The woman blinked, frowned, and said, "That's many days journey from here."

Sarah sighed. "I was afraid of that."

"Why are you here?"

Again, Sarah hesitated. But, this woman had done nothing for distrust. Sure, there was that axe, but to be fair, Sarah had broken into her home. Still, she said, "It's kind of intimidating to talk to someone when they've got an axe…"

The woman glanced at the axe, still clutched in her hand and kept loosely at her side, ready if Sarah chose to attack. She smiled, but it was a hard and lethal smile that didn't reach her eyes, and said, "You'll muscle through any discomfort, I'm sure."

"Well, okay," Sarah murmured. She took a deep breath, her mind whirling. What could she say that guaranteed she wouldn't get an axe blade to the brain? Finally, she started, "It started when my friend came asking for help..." She quickly told the story. She glossed over the fact she was looking for the Goblin King, only saying she was looking for a friend who had gone missing. Nor did she mention the fact she was the Labyrinth's Champion, a title that had little meaning in her mind. She didn't know why she kept these things to herself, but she felt better by doing so, as if she was being cautious by keeping a few pieces of information to herself.

By the end of the tale, the woman had shifted so she was sitting on the chair a few feet from the bed, the axe balanced against its leg but in easy reach. She had transferred Sarah's clothes to the foot of the bed. The woman sat and looked thoughtfully out the window, her hand absently tapping against her knee.

Now that the story was over, Sarah was feeling the spike of her annoyance again. She finally said, "What's your name?"

Snapped from her thoughts, she turned back to Sarah and frowned again, as if she'd just remembered the younger woman was still there. She said, "I'm called 'The Huntress.'"

Sarah sighed. "That's not a name —"

"It is mine."

Sarah almost threw her hands up in the air, then remembered the blanket. "Okay. Fine."

"You said there was a bird."

"What?"

"A bird. A large bird attacked you."

"Yeah, a condor. It was pretty terrifying."

The Huntress tapped her knee some more, then she stood and took three swift steps to the edge of the bed. She leaned down and stared at Sarah carefully, her gaze carefully sweeping along Sarah's face.

Sarah shifted uncomfortably, raising her knees tight against her chest as if that could help her from such a penetrating gaze. She stared back at the Huntress, refusing to be cowed even as her heart picked up speed nervously. She wondered what the Huntress was looking for, but after a moment, she seemed satisfied. Her pixie chin tightened, her mouth pressed to a thin line, and she whirled around and stalked to the window.

_What the hell was that? _Sarah wondered, but she kept quiet.

She eyed the axe, wondering what the Huntress would do if she made a leap for it. A weapon would feel reassuring right now. A weapon and clothes. She glanced at her clothes, still on the bed, and then at the Huntress, whose back was to her. If she quickly dressed, could she finish before the woman noticed? Could she also grab the axe?

_Probably not. _Sarah chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. Would the axe be of use if she had to wield it butt naked? She glanced at the Huntress again and admitted to herself she probably wouldn't get far. The woman may have been about Sarah's height, but she looked strong, and Sarah was pretty sure she could easily gain the axe back. _I've never even had to chop wood before. _

Sarah sighed.

The soft sound seemed to jar the Huntress from her thoughts. She turned and gripped the window sill and said, her face expressionless, "How do you plan to get to the Labyrinth?"

"I…" Sarah drifted off, startled by the question but also unsure how to answer. What had her plan been? _Well, I was going to head toward the sun, because when I stared at the landscape I realized the Labyrinth was to the east. Along the way, hopefully, I'd find a way to get some food and water and wouldn't die. Why do you ask?_

That sounded stupid, worse so now that she was safe and warm, so Sarah just shrugged. "I'd've found a way."

The Huntress snorted and Sarah clenched her teeth to keep from saying something rude.

"And if you had met up with more of the dark creatures? The Blighted?"

Sarah stared at the Huntress. "The what?"

"The Blighted. It's a common term for those affected by the sickness spreading throughout the kingdom. They become evil, violent, and bloodthirsty. By the sounds of it, you met...some of its victims. The deer man?"

"Oh. _Oh,_ that's what Hoggle was talking about? That's horrible." Sarah's eyes widened. "That's what's happening in the Labyrinth?" Her hands clenched on the sheets and she thought, _I need to find Jareth! _She imagined all the inhabitants slowly turning dark and violent. Already the Labyrinth had that fairy tale quality, that darkness where just around the corner something could happen. Even when she had explored it, trying to rescue Toby, she had felt the Labyrinth's well of untold secrets. A glimpse into it had frightened her. So many things that had happened to her in that dream — _no, _not a dream, _reality_ — had frightened her. The Cleaners, the Fireys, the twisty turns of the maze, the junkyard. Even the ballroom had been a special type of fear, edged with something even deeper and more ancient…

"It is. Darker than anything I've witnessed before. And what would you do, girl, if you met the Blighted again? Met a pack of them this time, instead of just one?"

Sarah brought her thoughts back to the moment forcefully. She said, "I don't know. Run?"

"How did that work for you this time?"

Sarah sneered. "I got away, didn't I?"

"And if it was a pack of creatures?"

Sarah knew the answer, and of course the Huntress knew the answer, so she chose to say nothing and merely stared at the older woman. After a moment, she said, coldly, "What are you getting at?"

The Huntress went back to the chair, sitting down and leaning back. She said, "The way I see it, you have no idea where you are going and you are unprotected. You're without a chance...unless…" she gave a feral grin, "you have a guide."

Sarah blinked, surprised. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting but this conversation wasn't it. After a moment, she said, hesitantly, "Are you offering?"

"Indeed."

Sarah frowned. "Why?"

The Huntress smiled. "I want a boon."

"I should have guessed. What?"

"Your full name," the Huntress said.

"Sarah — wait…" Sarah leaned back, remembering her favorite fairy tales. It had been a while since she'd indulged in such tales, especially the ones that had been her obsession as a teenager, but she knew them well even now. And one thing those tales had always emphasized: _Don't tell a stranger your full name. _It was even more suspicious that the Huntress had asked.

Sarah smiled. "Nice try, but I'm not doing that."

The Huntress huffed. "Well, I suppose it's nice to know my traveling companion won't be entirely dim-witted."

"Hey!"

"Then I ask only this," the Huntress said. "Once, and only once, if we disagree on what direction to take, my vote will decide."

Sarah turned the request over in her mind. It seemed simple enough, but just to be sure, she said, "You mean literally and not metaphorically?"

"Yes."

"You mean if there's two literal directions — like left or right — in front of us?"

"Yes, like that."

"And neither decision will hurt me?"

Here, the Huntress smiled, and inclined her head. "Correct. Neither direction will hurt you."

Sarah thought about it for another minute, then shrugged and said, "Sounds fine to me. Although I think this is a joke. I mean _you're _the one who suggested guiding me. Why am _I _granting a boon?"

"Because you know you'll die without help," the Huntress said. She slapped her knees, and then surged to her feet. "It is dark outside. I suggest we spend the rest of the night resting and start fresh and early tomorrow. I will bring more wood for the stove, go to the outhouse, and come back. During that time, I suggest you vacate my bed, dress, and I'll allow you to sleep near the fire —"

Sarah sputtered. "_Allow _me —?"

But, the Huntress was already turning toward the door. She easily moved away the furniture blocking it and unlocked it from the inside, causing Sarah to jolt, and just as the Huntress closed the door behind her, Sarah yelled, "I have more questions —!"

But the door closed with a finality, and she stared at the brass doorknob angrily. "What the hell did I get myself into?" she muttered.

# # # #

Despite her annoyance, she followed the Huntress's instructions. Her clothes were mostly dry, so she dressed again, then she grabbed as much blanket as she could and the pillow and spread out in the wide space around the stove, far enough away she didn't risk any burns or flying embers. She was annoyed at her "host," who had not only kicked her out of her bed, but seemed to regard her with a scoffing type of indulgence.

When the Huntress came back with an armful of wood to place near the door, she paused when she spied her stripped bed and sighed. She said, "I can tell we will enjoy traveling together."

"It'll be a piece of cake," Sarah snapped. She turned toward the Huntress and let her curiosity get the better of her, even though she'd told herself she was going to give her new traveling partner the silent treatment. "Hey, I'm curious...how did you get inside here if the door was locked and barred?"

"Simple." The Huntress moved to the pantry and she grasped the edge of the free standing piece of furniture, moving it aside. Sarah saw a small doorway — one a normal sized person would have to crouch to go through — and a few steps leading down.

"Always have an exit strategy," the Huntress told her with a shrug.

_What kind of life does this hermit woman live if she expects she'll need a secret escape route? _Sarah wondered.

"It also leads to a cellar," the Huntress said as she moved the pantry back, as if reading Sarah's thoughts. "The cool items go there."

"Oh." Sarah shifted, trying to find a comfortable position. She watched as the Huntress laid out on the bed, using her extra clothes as a pillow. She didn't change, merely drew the coat she wore closer around her for warmth. Sarah felt a tinge of guilt for taking her pillow and blankets, but then she remembered she was sleeping on the floor. Might as well get some comfort.

With the stove closed, the fire banked, and the windows curtained, the house was shrouded in darkness. Sarah stared into the darkness, thinking about how quickly fortune changed. Just yesterday, she had a normal life. She'd bought a deli sandwich, gone for a jog, done normal things. Normal, boring things. Now? She'd been chased, had her life threatened, and suddenly wound up with a...partner? Guide? Whatever the hell the Huntress was. She wasn't even sure if it was a good idea the Huntress was helping her.

Sarah murmured, "Huntress?"

She heard the shift of clothing, a long sigh, and then, "Yes?"

"Where am I, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...where am I? I'm not in the Labyrinth, so where is this?"

"Oh." A pause. "It's called...Sa'Ashra. A neighboring kingdom."

Sarah murmured the name to herself. Sa'Ashra, sounded like something out of a fantasy novel. Although, she supposed that shouldn't be surprising, all things considered. She said, "I only ever was around the Labyrinth last time, I didn't even know there were other kingdoms."

"There isn't, really. Most of the Underground is wild land, full of wild creatures, and little hamlets of people. But, every once in a while, someone stronger or smarter or better will make their way to the top of the stack, unite everyone, and proclaim it a kingdom. That's what the Goblin King did."

Hearing his name from someone who wasn't part of the Labyrinth sent a jolt through her. She'd spent so long _not _talking about the Underground, speaking about it freely was truly strange.

"You know the Goblin King?" she asked.

"By reputation. I've never met him."

"And you know how he became Goblin King?"

"No, I've just heard stories that he's been king a very long time…"

Sarah's eyelids were drooping; the long day and the emotional highs and lows of having her life threatened by an axe catching up with her. She curled onto her side and said, "How'd you end up a hermit in the scary, dark forest, anyway?"

But the words seemed to come from far away. So, she barely heard the Huntress's snort of derision or her murmured answer: "We are _not _that close yet."

# # # #

It was bird call that finally woke Sarah. With a soft snort, she opened her eyes, surprised to face bright sunshine and smell sweet — if warm — air. She blinked, confused, looking around a beautiful garden. She was laid out on a bench, wrapped in the blankets, still wearing the clothes she had been before.

Sarah slowly sat up, her gaze jumping around. What was going on?

The blankets were stifling, and Sarah let them fall away as she slowly stood. Momentarily, dizziness overcame her but it quickly faded away. She still felt hot, not just because of the added warmth from the sun, but…

Sarah touched the pendant, now embedded in her skin, and frowned at how warm it was. Why was it working now? And when she hadn't made a wish — or, at least, she didn't think so. What if it granted subconscious wishes?

_Focus on one thing at a time, _she reminded herself. _Let's start with where you are._

She slowly pivoted, looking around. Her first guess of a garden had been correct. There were walkways of white and gray stone bisecting the lush, green lawns sprinkled with blooming flowers of every type. There were also clusters of trees providing shade; many of them also bloomed, or were heavy with fruit. Everywhere Sarah looked, she was regaled with color and relaxing nature. It made the parks she knew Aboveground look overgrown and mangy. This was the kind of garden for a king.

Interestingly, she couldn't see walls or fences or anything that marked the end of the garden. It just kept sweeping out before her until it stopped at the blue sky. Sarah kept pivoting, looking beyond the flowers and trees — looking for an exit. But, all she saw was the sky and…

She frowned as she did a double take. There was something else besides nature...but it was slightly blocked by the trees…

She took a few hesitant steps toward it. So far, her encounters in the Underground had been creepy, rotting deer man and potentially dangerous hermit-huntress with an axe. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what this newest development was.

She walked around a large bush, heavy with pomegranates. A breeze whistled through the leaves, cool and refreshing. The scent of cherry blossoms permeated the air as she walked. Where the path was in the sun, it was refreshingly warm, and where it was in the shade, it was cool against her bare feet.

When she was a little closer, she realized it was a man. And then, as she ducked around a tree, she saw a familiar haircut, and a familiar style of clothes. Shock came like a million moths inside her stomach; she felt tingles of alarm as she slowly continued walking toward the man.

She also realized why she hadn't seen any walls or fences. They were high above the ground in some kind of open-air tower. There was a waist-high wall made of the same white stone as the pathway. That was the only barrier between the garden and a fall to one's death. To one side, mountains rose up, but the other side was open, flat areas sprinkled with forests or plains.

Something prickled Sarah's awareness; something was familiar about this. But, the Goblin King took her awareness in the next instant. He was leaning his elbows against the wall, gazing out at the view. The breeze played through his hair, which fluffed about his head, falling to frame his face. There were dark streaks in it in black and blue, but otherwise it was that familiar golden shade from her dream. No, wait, not a dream. He wore a simple, black peasant shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. It was unbuttoned, the collar flared and flapped. He wore gray breeches and black riding boots. Sarah felt a tinge, a sense of familiarity. He wore exactly what she remembered, and she knew, once she saw his face, he'd look like she remembered too. A dozen years had passed since she'd seen Jareth, and yet he had not changed.

_I've changed, _she thought, but pushed the thought aside. More pressing matters right now. Like why was she here? How had she found him? _Where _was "here"?

She said, "Jareth?"

He stiffened and whirled around, his eyes wide with shock. But the shock lasted only an instant, and then it melted to a bemused expression. He leaned back against the wall and inclined his head.

"Sarah."

Sarah shivered. It was the way he said her name. Soft, full of unspoken things — things she wasn't sure she would even like. And yet…

She said, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Sarah." He inclined the high altitude of the garden. "This place does not exactly have a welcome mat."

"I don't know why I'm here. I woke up here." A thought occurred to her and she said, "I dreamed of you…"

If she hadn't been sure the dream had been real, it was confirmed by the brief surprise in Jareth's face. In fact, the more she thought about it…

"I've dreamed of you before!" Sarah said. She pointed an accusing index finger at him. "You told me to find you."

"I think my exact words were to come through," Jareth said, "but the sentiment was the same, I suppose."

"So it was real!" Sarah's voice raised triumphantly, but Jareth looked disappointingly unimpressed. He simply shrugged, so she continued, "And what about the feather? What was _that _about?"

"I couldn't have you thinking it was nothing but a dream, could I?" Jareth said. "Not like _last time_, that would help no one."

Was Jareth purposefully trying to sound accusing or did he not care and she was adding the inflection? She frowned. "Okay, it's not my fault I thought the Labyrinth was a dream. I mean, can you blame me? Girl wishes away brother to Goblin King and he actually comes through her window in a puff of glitter?" She snorted. "And let's not even get started on everything else. Talking caterpillars, fairies, dancing and singing creatures, _goblins_! If I didn't think it was a dream, I'd probably be in therapy right now convincing myself I'm not crazy."

"I'm insulted, Sarah. Such a grand gift I gave you, and this is my repayment?" His bored expression contradicted his words.

"Please. You stole my brother, threatened my life —" Sarah threw up her hands, looking beyond Jareth at the blue sky. Blue, _calming _sky. "Why am I having this discussion with you? It doesn't matter. I need to find where you are right now so we can get you back to the Labyrinth and I can go home." She paused. "Actually, why can't you just magic yourself back to the Labyrinth?" She wiggled her fingers.

"I am, unfortunately, trapped here."

Sarah frowned, moving closer. She leaned her hands against the wall — its stone was warm from baking in the sun — and leaned slightly forward. Immediately, vertigo hit looking straight down and she closed her eyes momentarily, then turned to look at Jareth. He watched her, his face unreadable but again she felt that jolt of familiarity. It was like seeing something from one's childhood; something important. Like hearing lines from a well-read book or hearing a lullaby ingrained in one's memories. A memory that causes all kinds of emotions to come back.

Jareth's eyebrows still swept upward like raven's wings. His features still were sharp, with high cheekbones and thin lips and that aquiline nose. His eyes, fringed with dark lashes, were mismatched in color — one icy blue, the other black. That feature had always startled her most. Made her uneasy.

Yes, he looked the same. More than a decade and he hadn't aged at all. Although, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Jareth may not look older, but he looked harried.

Sarah mentally shook herself, glancing back out at the landscape. She said, gently, "Jareth, I know you can fly. Why hang out on this Isengard-wannabe like Gandalf when you don't have to?"

Jareth sighed. "Sarah, do you think I'd stay here if I could? I'm…" He licked his lips, hesitated, then said, "My magic is nearly gone. I don't have enough to transform into anything."

"Oh." Sarah frowned. "How did you get here?"

"I can't say," Jareth answered, his expression smooth and blank.

Sarah blinked. "Excuse me?"

Jareth leaned closer. He smelled earthy, spicy. He said, "I can't —"

"I heard you!" Sarah snapped. "_Why not?_"

Jareth's face twisted slightly, perhaps with annoyance or anger, and he said, "I can't say."

Sarah clenched her teeth. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm afraid not, Precious."

"That was rhetorical." She sighed, grinding the heel of her hand against her temples. "I don't get it. Why even come to me in that dream, or leave the feather, if you can't tell me anything useful?"

Jareth gazed out at the view, thoughtfully, and at first Sarah was sure he wouldn't answer, but then he said, "Why did you come?"

_Great, are we answering questions with questions now? _Sarah thought. However, she answered, "Hoggle got me."

"The _dwarf_?" Jareth wrinkled his nose, but then he nodded. "I suppose he would. Do you have the necklace?"

Sarah's hand began to raise, but she stopped it from seeking the pendant. She said, "Yes?"

Jareth frowned. "But, Sarah, _you_ can come to _me, _then. Just say your right words —"

"Jareth, I can't."

"— and then we can _both _— what?"

"I can't," Sarah repeated. "Look, let's start from the beginning. So, yeah, I thought the Labyrinth was just a dream — and you and Hoggle and everyone — but then I was jogging and Hoggle suddenly was there…"

Sarah told him the story. During the telling, they moved away from the edge of the tower and sat on a bench nearer to the center, each on one side slightly facing each other. Sarah animatedly gesticulated as she recounted one challenge after another — the bird attacking, trekking through the forest, the deer man, and the axe woman. Jareth sat with his gloved hands clasped, his face thoughtful but otherwise betraying nothing. And when Sarah was done, she rested her hands on her knees and took a deep breath.

Jareth said, "It seems you've gone through some difficulties for me."

Sarah waved the comment away. She hadn't told the story for platitudes, although it was weird hearing them from the Goblin King's mouth.

He said, "Champion." He gave a small, satisfied smile.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"I had hoped…" He stopped suddenly, as if he realized he'd said too much. After a few seconds, he said, "Sarah, you must find me. Release me. I can't do it by myself, not without my magic."

"And you can't tell me _why,_" Sarah said.

"Believe me, I would if I could."

Sarah rubbed her temples again and said, "What did you hope?"

"What?"

"You said 'I had hoped.' What did you hope?"

Jareth hesitated, then said, "I had hoped you would come. I had left the necklace for that eventuality, if it was needed."

_I had hoped you would come. _That line shouldn't please her, yet it did. She felt like she had when she was fifteen — scared, although at that time the fear had been mostly for Toby, but also exhilarated for _adventure_. Hearing Jareth say he'd hoped she'd come just strengthened that feeling of exhilaration. Had adventure been what was missing from her life?

She pushed away those thoughts, focusing on what else Jareth had said. She frowned. "What eventuality?"

"My…" Jareth hesitated, then said, weakly, "Entrapment. If I could not come back to the castle, I knew that there must be _someone _who could come fetch me. But who am I to trust? The goblins?" Jareth smirked. "They are useful creatures — quite magical — but they need direction. They are woefully unable to direct themselves. I needed a Champion. The dwarf is a coward —"

"Hey!"

"The rock monster a better pet than Champion —"

"_Hey!_"

"The fox-knight loyal, but lacking cunning and impulse control."

Sarah shrugged. That one was true.

"No," Jareth said, softly, "there was only one choice, and if your friends came to fetch you, you would say yes. No, I _knew_ it would be so, for Sarah is loyal to her friends, is she not?"

"I guess," Sarah said, shifting uncomfortably under Jareth's thoughtful gaze. "Wait! Are you saying...are you saying _I'm _your contingency plan?"

Jareth smirked. "If you'd prefer to think of it that way, I cannot deny it."

Sarah groaned, momentarily closing her eyes. "You are well and truly screwed if _I'm _the 'if all else fails' fail-safe."

"I don't think so," Jareth said, almost cheerfully. "You managed to run the Labyrinth, destroy the peach dream, and to get your brother back from me."

"I was young and I thought I could do anything."

"And you're older now," Jareth said, giving her a brief once-over that left her blushing, "so hopefully you've found you _can_ do anything."

"Well —"

"Where is it?" Jareth asked.

"What?"

"The necklace." He gestured toward her neck. "May I see it?"

Sarah briefly hesitated before pulling the T-shirt's collar slightly down, showing off her sternum where the pendant was embedded. Jareth's breath sucked in and his eyes widened. This close to him, she could see his otherworldly eyes clearly, observe the way they focused and the way the pupils expanded and contracted. She was so focused on him that when Jareth lifted his hand, Sarah didn't realize what he would do until it was too late.

With gloved fingers as soft as suede, he brushed against the pendant's surface. Sarah shivered, unable to help the jolt of electricity that seemed to appear and travel along her spine. If Jareth noticed, he said nothing; his attention was on the pendant.

"You spoke the truth. It is...embedded in you."

Sarah stiffened. "Did you think I was lying?"

"No...no." Jareth glanced up. "I suppose I was hoping you were."

"Why?"

Jareth brushed the pendant again, causing another jolt. She didn't want to tell him to stop that, in case he realized the effect it was having, but the sensation was not wholly pleasant. It was shocking and unignorable.

"I've never seen this happen before. I don't know what the long-term effects of having a piece of the Labyrinth a part of you, a human, will be."

Unease blossomed. Sarah felt a weight in her stomach. "What? What do you mean 'piece of the Labyrinth'?"

"That's what this necklace is," Jareth answered. "An ancient piece of magic from the Labyrinth's heart, a gift given to its King. By having it in your skin, you have a piece of the Labyrinth with you. But your body is not made for magic, I wonder what the consequences will be?"

He said the last as if she was an interesting science experiment and she felt a flare of annoyance. She opened her mouth to snap something at him, but he continued, "Are you sure you can't walk through, Sarah?"

"I told you —"

"But have you _tried_? I left this pendant to give you the power to come to the Labyrinth and to come to me..."

She was about to tell him he wasn't listening, but she realized she hadn't really tried, at least not with the Goblin King sitting next to her. She sighed and leaned back, muttering, "Fine."

She closed her eyes, touching her fingertips to the pendant. It felt strange, and its surface was still pleasantly warm, as if a heat source was just below the surface. She saw Jareth in the garden as she'd seen him when she first arrived: leaning against the wall with his elbows resting against its surface, looking out at the view.

She thought, _I wish…_ and as she thought it, she repeated the words, letting them fall from her lips: "I wish…"

She heard a sharp intake of breath nearby and could _feel _Jareth's gaze on her skin. Goosebumps erupted along her skin. She said, "I wish I can go to the Goblin King _right now_!"

She paused, afraid to open her eyes. The goosebumps, the warmth of the pendant, and the feeling like the world was holding its breath all indicated _something _would happen. But as the seconds ticked by, her skin settled and that feeling of possibility slid away.

Sarah sighed in disappointment, knowing before she opened her eyes it had failed. Jareth watched, his gaze bleak and his lips pinched. He said, "You'll have to find me then, Sarah."

"Right," Sarah said, tiredly. "The old fashioned way, huh? Quests and journeys and all that. So, how do I find where this tower is?"

"The pendant still has a whisper of magic left," Jareth said. "Maybe not magic that will bring wishes true, or take you places, but it still wants to be reunited with its King."

"It told you that, did it?" Sarah muttered.

Jareth ignored the quip and simply said, "Use the pendant."

"_How?_"

Jareth huffed. "By saying the right words, Sarah! I truly do not understand —" He stopped, stiffened, and jerked around to face toward the wall again. Sarah followed his gaze, but saw nothing but blue sky. So, she looked back at him. His gaze darted along the sky, searching, and she watched as his lips slowly curled back from his teeth in a disgusted sneer.

"J-Jareth —?"

"It's time to go, Sarah." He didn't look at her.

"Excuse me?" She wondered how many times she'd say that to him before she'd be able to go back home.

He finally turned to her, meeting her gaze. "It's time to wake up."

"Sure," Sarah said, dryly. "Tell me how."

Jareth made a low noise of frustration and said, "Champion, I remember a time when there was a spark of challenge in your eye."

"Funny," Sarah snapped. "I remember when I beat your ass at your own game."

Jareth grinned, but it wasn't a pleasant one. Sarah fought back a shiver. He calmly but with quick, efficient movements jerked off his right glove. Sarah watched, uncertain. Then, to her surprise, he touched her neck, curling his fingers along the base of it — against bare flesh.

She sucked in a breath, eyes wide. His hand was warm, dry, and she was surprised by the jumble of emotions she felt by his touch. That exhilaration, yes, but also fear. Or, if not fear, one level below. Distrust. Dread. Uncertainty. It all melded together to create something dark and heavy in the pit of her stomach, even as her heart pounded and the blood singed in her veins. But with that excitement, that uncertainty, it caused a heady mix.

"Wake up, Sarah," Jareth murmured, meeting her gaze. "Wake up and find me."

Then his hand heated so swiftly and suddenly that, at first, Sarah didn't realize the temperature change. One moment his flesh was just warm and alive, the next it burned against her. She opened her mouth to yelp in shock, and felt an electric current slide through his fingers into her skin, against her neck, and center where the pendant rested.

It hurt. It felt like the tingles one got when a limb fell asleep. That unpleasant, almost painful feeling, but it was concentrated in a tight ball just under her skin.

She wasn't sure now if she'd just yelp or yell.

She jerked back, trying to disconnect his hand —

— and the next thing she knew, between one blink of her eyes and the next, she was back on the floor of the Huntress's cottage, tangled in the blankets. She was flailing.

Hands hooked underneath her armpits, hauling her to a seated position. The Huntress said, "What is _wrong _with you?"

Sarah batted the blanket off her face, taking a wheezing, gasping breath. She looked around, seeing the wood cabin. The blue sky, beautiful garden, and Goblin King were gone.

Sarah pressed a hand to where Jareth had touched her. Still, tingles ran along her skin in that area, down to the pendant, and back again. She could feel the ghost sensation of his skin against hers.

She scrubbed her skin roughly, then lightly scratched it with blunt, bitten nails. It only helped a little.

"Dream," she wheezed out, surprised by how husky her voice sounded, as if she had been screaming. "Just a dream."

"Must have been quite the dream," the Huntress said. "You've been flailing and yelping for a good couple of minutes. Woke me up. Which is fine, I guess. We should get ready to head out, anyway."

Sarah nodded, only half-listening. She was staring at the floor with wide eyes, her hand still on the spot on her neck, but she was seeing Jareth and thinking about his words. _"Champion, I remember a time when there was a spark of challenge in your eye...say your right words...come and find me."_

Sarah groaned, rubbing her temples and the last of the sleep from her eyes. She turned to the Huntress. "Any chance you got some coffee?"

# # # #

The Huntress didn't have coffee, much to Sarah's dismay. Instead, she brewed a bitter tea that tasted like leaves. It jarred Sarah awake and made her tongue tingle, not in an entirely pleasant way. However, she had three cups. Along with a breakfast of leftovers and bread.

It was coming back from the outhouse when Sarah paused. She had been thinking about Jareth's words in the dream. She'd already considered — and dismissed — the idea it was all a dream. She couldn't start her time in the Labyrinth doubted.

He had said the necklace was lead her to him. But it had no magic to actually transport her…

"_Use your right words…"_

What were the right words?

Sarah realized she'd been standing stock still, gently petting the pendant, and it was warming under her fingers. _Okay, _she thought, _if it's all about wishing… _

She could do that.

She pulled the neckline of her T-shirt further down until the pendant was uncovered, moistened her lips, then said, "I wish I knew the way to the Goblin King _right now_!"

At first, nothing happened. Then, with a flare of heat under her fingers, the necklace flared, sending out a bright light that, in the next instant, diminished into a tiny, concentrated beam. It pointed straight ahead — east? She peered at the patch of sky she could see through the canopy, guessing the direction was east based on the sun's position.

Experimentally, Sarah turned in a half-circle and watched in fascination as the beam faded the further she turned before sputtering out completely. She made a full rotation, coming back around to the original direction, and the closer she got the stronger the beam grew until it was once again brightly pointing ahead.

She grinned. Score one for the Champion.

She hid the beam as best she could under her T-shirt and hurried into the cabin.

The Huntress looked up from zipping up her pack, an eyebrow raised. Sarah wondered what her expression looked like. She said, excitedly, "Change of plans."

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **Sheesh, my longest chapter yet. I hope it's interesting. I re-did this chapter twice, then edited it, and I'm still not happy. But, I don't know how else to do this thing so it's going up. This chapter serves as the final one to put in place (most) of the key players for "Beyond the Labyrinth." It also has the first appearance of our favorite Goblin King. It also has important information for Sarah's journey. Too bad it's mostly told to her in vague Goblin-King-speak, am I right? ;) If you read the prologue story, "Welcome to the Funhouse," you may be nodding your head going, "Hmmm" right now, and all I can say is "too bad Sarah doesn't take tarot readings more seriously, in this case, hm?"_

_There are more author's notes at my blog. (Check my author's profile for the link.)_

_**Please review! **Your reviews encourage me to keep going, as well as providing useful feedback. Please leave your comments/suggestions! Constructive criticism is always welcome! Yaaay! :)_

**_Next time on BtL: Who is the Huntress? How are they going to get closer to Jareth without blisters? And what will Hoggle find in the tunnels? Stay tuned to find out!_**

Disclaimer: As always, beyond my own original characters, I am not the original owner of the Labyrinth. This is a nonprofit fanfiction for entertainment purposes only. Please do not copy/alter/re-post my work without my prior written permission. Thank you!


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